The Nursing Shortage In America Could Be Hazardous To Your Health
Nurses make up the largest group of medical professionals in health care today. Everyone has required the services of a nurse at least once in their lifetime. Nurses are present during a birth, and in every other aspect of our lives. There’s the school nurse you saw because you were pancaked on the asphalt by an overeager eighth grader during a game of keep away, there’s the nurse who comes to see you right before the doctor does, the one who takes your vitals and chats with you about your family. Nurses are in every aspect of our lives, ready to assist us in getting back on our feet when we need it.
There will be 1.1 million job openings next year in the field of nursing. A recent report notes with some alarm that the United States is suffering from a critical shortage of nursing professionals. Nurse to patient ratios are plummeting in thirty states, forcing many institutions to either close or run seriously understaffed. Neither choice is viable, and facilities have been turning people away.
While most emergency rooms have been so far able to keep this problem at bay, other parts of the medical profession suffer as nurses turn to specialties, and other more profitable careers. A lot of students entering college do not even consider nursing a viable career choice anymore.
Only the very dedicated take up the profession anymore. Unless something is done to change the status quot, this problem is only going to get worse for all of us. So much of our lives would change if there weren’t nurses available. The quality of medical care will continue to worsen.
Considering the demands of their careers, nurses should be paid much more for what they do. A country that can pay some guy a million dollars to hit a baseball, should be able to offer more to the people who do more for them. It is a sad thing to see, and something should be done to change it.
What this country should be doing instead of fighting wars, is trying to find a way to make the nursing profession more attractive to students considering college. As stated before, nurses don’t get nearly enough for what they do. It’s time America started appreciating her nurses before the nursing shortage in America becomes an epidemic.
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