Nursing Shortage Growing Worldwide

Florence Nightingale wrote, "unless we are making progress in our nursing every year, every month, every week, take my word for it we are going back." What would she have to say today about the ever growing shortage of nurses?

• Today there are over 100,000 vacant positions throughout the U.S.

• By the year 2020, that number expected to grow to 434,000.

• Worldwide, the shortage will expand to over 800,000.

Hospitals in the U.S. are offering bonuses of up to $14,000 for experienced nurses, and studies have shown that there has been a steady increase in RN employment over the past two years. However, the crisis is far from over. Fears are growing in Europe, and in poor nations, where nurses have jumped at the chance to partake in these bonuses.

Philippine Sources Being Drained

In countries such as the Philippines, where a nurse in the city makes about $150 per month, the financial gains in the U.S. have long lead these nurses to migrate. Patient loads and working conditions are much worse in their homeland. Therefore, conditions which seem to drive American nurses from the field, pale in comparison for these recruits.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration states that nearly 34,000 nurses went abroad between 1995 and 2000. What once seemed a bottomless source of qualified nurses has now created a shortage crisis in the Philippines.

Canadian Nurses Moving to U.S.

Canadian nurses have migrated south in search of financial incentives as well.

• In 1994 and 1995 over 12,000 Canadian nurses moved to the U.S.

• while less than 100 U.S. nurses moved to Canada.

With poor success in recruiting U.S. nurses, Canada turned to recruiting nurses from the UK. Part of the problem cited by the Canadian Nursing Association is that nurse positions in Canada are often not full time positions, an issue they will have to resolve if they hope to slow down their own shortage crisis.

Other Countries Deplete Philippine Nurses

Ireland once had a plentiful supply of nurses, but now looks to the Philippines to solve its shortages, further depleting nurses from the Philippines. The UK has turned to South Africa to recruit nurses thereby depleting their resources as well.

Lack of Qualified Nurse Educators Compounds Problem

As the nursing workforce continues to age, and qualified nurses leave the profession faster than they can be replaced, the crisis grows. The lack of qualified nurse educators compounds the problem with the inability to quickly train new nurses.
The one predictable factor is that qualified nurses will not find themselves unemployable in the foreseeable future.

Sources:
Canadian Nurses Association
Philippine Overseas Employment Administration
Aiken, L.H. "Trends in International Nurse Migration" Health Affairs 2004,23(3):69-77 Link to Abstract(Sorry, you must register to view the article.)
Internation Council of Nurses Position Statement
Nurses Exodus Making Health System Sick

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