The medical staffing factoring experts at PRN Funding recently came across an article in The Daily Tell that focused on the nation’s nurse shortage. A summary of the article is included below:

The number of nurses in America is declining at an alarming rate.  As the aging baby boomer population demands health care, more nurses are depended upon everyday.  Nurses are vital to health care success.  In fact, with more nurses working in a healthcare setting, fewer medical mistakes are made and fewer hospital-acquired infections are obtained.  Studies also show that hospitals with more nurses have shorter patient stays and lower patient mortality rates.  There are currently 2.5 million nurses in America; projections for 2025 have this number at 500,000. 

Luckily, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) have begun working together on an initiative to inject more qualified nurses into the American health care system.  Their partnership will create a panel of health care experts and aims to create and improve nursing education programs for the future. 

Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, president and CEO of RWJF explains that, “For health reform to succeed, and for patients to receive better care at a cost we can afford, we must change the way health care is delivered.  And nursing is at the heart of patient care.”

Nurses currently make up the largest section of the health care workforce.  Hopefully this initiative keeps it that way. 

To read the entire article click here: Nursing initiative will address future of healthcare, nursing shortage