A wake up call for nurses

The purpose of NIWI is to provide nurses the opportunity to learn how to influence health care through the legislative and regulatory processes. Participants learn from health policy experts and government officials, network with other nurses, and visit members of Congress. This paper reflects this educational process by providing an overview of the current nursing shortage and the presentation of a new bipartisan Bill (S.1604) introduced to Congress on June 13, 2007 to increase efforts to help control the current and continuing nursing shortage in the United States.

Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow: Challenges in Securing Federal Support for Graduate Nursing Education

The nursing shortage continues to escalate while literally thousands of qualified applicants are being turned away from nursing schools across the nation, largely because of insufficient numbers of nursing faculty. In this article, we attempt to summarize the scope of the current nursing faculty shortage, discuss the role of federal policies in contributing to and addressing the problem, and propose policy strategies for expanding the capacity of the current and future pool of nursing faculty.

The Nurse Reinvestment Act revisited

The United States is in the midst of a widely recognized critical nursing shortage. In 2002 the "Nurse Reinvestment Act" was passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in an effort to address this serious public health threat. The Act is due for reauthorization of funding in 2007. This paper provides a brief overview of the programs contained within the Act and describes practical ways in which members of the nursing community can take action to insure renewed support for the Act.

Physician workforce shortages: implications and issues for academic health centers and policymakers

A physician shortage is likely given current levels of medical education and training. Because an increase in physician supply through expansion of U.S. medical school capacity will require ten or more years, there is little time left to affect the supply of new physicians in 2020 when a substantial number of baby boomers will be over 70 years of age. Even with a substantial increase in medical education and training capacity, it is unlikely that all of the increased demand for health services can be met with physicians. In addition to the challenges of expanding medical school enrollment, the nation will need to grapple with other ramifications of demand exceeding supply. This includes assessing how to deliver services more effectively and efficiently and the future roles of the physician and other health professionals. These challenges are particularly difficult for medical schools and teaching hospitals, the cornerstones of medical education and training in the United States. Osteopathic and off-shore schools targeted to Americans have been willing and able to grow more quickly and less expensively than U.S. medical schools, in part because of their more narrow approaches to medical education. In addition, physicians from less developed countries continue to migrate to the United States in significant numbers. Medical schools, teaching hospitals, and policymakers will need to address several major questions as they respond to the shortages. They will either confront and address these issues in the next few years or they will be forced to change by others in the future.