Nurses are the Heartbeat of the Healthcare System

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“By 2025, the shortage of registered nurses is projected to grow to an estimated 260,000, twice as high as any U.S nursing shortages since the 1960’s” (Cullen). Nurses are the backbone of the health care system. They provide overall care and treatment to the patients. Further, while the patient is being admitted, staying and leaving the health care facility, nurses are addressing all of their needs and the families concerns. When facilities do not have adequate staffing the patients and the nurses suffer. In addition to the shortages America is facing, nurses are becoming increasingly stressed and over work. At the same time, the patient care is declining. There are two areas in which the lack of staffing is happening in the United States. First, schools are not accepting enough qualified applicants into the nursing programs. Also, the baby boomers are retiring leaving a huge gap of unfilled nursing positions. The nursing shortages should not be happening on such an epic scale because there are enough qualified applicants wanting to be accepted into the schools. However, the problem does not exist in the shortage of people wanting to become nurses. “The number of students who met all the requirements but weren’t admitted was over 67,000 students last year…” (Courchane). Students want to become nurses and want to make a difference in the lives of others. Although, they have the drive, the good grades and the support to become a great nurse, they can’t. Why? They are not accepted into the program due to funding. The nursing shortage exists because the schools do not have the funding needed to open schools and pay for teachers. As a result, when the budgets are cut the administrators of the nursing schools have to admit fewer s... ... middle of paper ... ...ursing Shortage." Business and Financial News, Breaking US and International News (2009): Web. 17 Nov. 2011. . Fox, Rebecca L., and Kathleen Abrahamson. "A Critical Examination of the U.S. Nursing Shortage: Contributing Factors, Public Policy Implications." EBSCO Host/ Nursing Forum 44.4 (2009): 235-244. Web. 17 Nov. 2011. . Kelly, Karen. "Is the DNP the Answer to the Nursing Faculty Shortage? Not Likely!" EBSCO Host/ Nursing Forum 45.4 (2010): 266-270. Web. 17 Nov. 2011. . Madkour, Rash. "Nursing Shortage: 1 in 5 quits within first year, study says." USA Today [Miami, FL]. USA Today , 15 Feb. 2009. Web. 1 Jan. . "The Nursing Shortage in 2010: Overcoming obstacles and coming up with new strategies." My Nursing Degree. My Nursing Degree, Mar. 2010. Web. 17 Nov. 2011.

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