The RN shortage in many areas of the country is easing as the recession and job insecurity of spouses cause older nurses to delay retirement or return to the workforce and part-time nurses to become full time, according to a study published on the Health Affairs web site. But a new RN shortage looms in the next decade as baby boomers retire from the nursing workforce.
The researchers project a shortfall of RNs developing around 2018 and growing to about 260,000 by 2025. Although these projections represent a smaller shortfall than earlier estimates, the magnitude of the 2025 deficit would still be more than twice as large as any nurse shortage experienced since the introduction of Medicare and Medicaid in the mid-1960s. Avoiding this shortfall will require expanding the capacity of nursing education programs, which since 2002 have turned away 30,000 or more qualified applicants annually, the researchers say.
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