News reports have indicated that the Texas’s large population of older residents, healthcare systems and assisted living facilities (ALF) could be impacted due to a nursing provider (NP) shortage facing the entire country. Central Texas and the Texas Panhandle are largely affected by the shortage of nurses. According to a Nursing Shortage Factsheet :
The U.S. is projected to experience a shortage of Registered Nurses (RNs) that is expected to intensify as Baby Boomers age and the need for health care grows. Compounding the problem is the fact that nursing schools across the country are struggling to expand capacity to meet the rising demand for care given the national move toward healthcare reform. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) is leveraging its resources to shape legislation, identify strategies, and form collaborations to address the shortage.
According to AACN reports:
- According to the “United States Registered Nurse Workforce Report Card and Shortage Forecast” published in the January 2012 issue of the American Journal of Medical Quality, a shortage of registered nurses is projected to spread across the country between 2009 and 2030. In this state-by-state analysis, the authors forecast the RN shortage to be most intense in the South and West. http://ajm.sagepub.com
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A significant segment of the nursing workforce is nearing retirement age.
- According to a 2013 survey conducted by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing and The Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers, 55% of the RN workforce is age 50 or older.
- The Health Resources and Services Administration projects that more than 1 million registered nurses will reach retirement age within the next 10 to 15 years.
- According to data from the 2008 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses released in September 2010 by the federal Division of Nursing, the average age of the RN population is 47.0 years of age, up slightly from 46.8 in 2004.
