Federal officials and nursing groups agree the nation will experience an acute shortage of registered nurses starting in 2010, when today's nurses start to retire. The crunch is expected to get worse before it gets better, according to a study published by Vanderbilt University researchers and published last year in July in the Journal of the American Medical Association. By the year 2020, the nation will have 20 percent fewer nurses than it needs, the study said. Hendrick is licensed by the state to operate more than 500 beds. The hospital has 631 registered nurses on staff with 42 vacancies to be filled.
Hospital administrators try to maintain one nurse for every five or six patients during the day.
Night-shift nurses care for seven to eight patients each. Across town at Abilene Regional Medical Center, the shortage has affected the hospital's ability to schedule some elective procedures and surgeries, said ARMC spokeswoman Chris Proctor-Cleveland. ARMC, licensed for 187 beds, employs more than 160 registered nurses, and is recruiting and hiring registered nurses, Proctor-Cleveland said. E.W. Scripps Publications , All Rights Reserved. Site users are subject to our User Agreement .