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The Shortage of Hospital Nurses: A New Perspective
- LINDA H. AIKEN, R.N., Ph.D.;
- ROBERT J. BLENDON, Sc.D.; and
- DAVID E. ROGERS, M.D.
Abstract
There appears to be a critical shortage of hospital nurses in the United States, despite a 15-year national effort to bring the supply of nurses into balance with increased demand. Careful review of supply and requirement data does not provide an adequate explanation for the persistent shortage, and common misconceptions about the nature of the nurse shortage have clouded the debate. Several popular explanations for the shortage do not appear to be valid. Evidence strongly favors the explanation that the shortage has been caused by the depression of nurses' incomes relative to incomes of other workers. The present wage structure has both short- and long-term effects on the shortage of nurses; allowing nurses salaries to rise to levels of comparable workers may be the only solution.
Article and Author Information
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▸From the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; Princeton, New Jersey.
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This article is being published simultaneously in the September issues of the American Journal of Nursing and Annals of Internal Medicine, by consent among the editors of the two journals and the authors, to ensure its reaching a wide audience in both fields.
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▸Requests for reprints should be addressed to Linda H. Aiken, R.N., Ph.D.; The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; Post Office Box 2316; Princeton, NJ 08540.
