A shortage of trained and experienced nurses has become a serious problem for most hospitals and long-term care institutions, and a critical problem for some. The present nurse shortage, however, is only an early warning sign of a public health catastrophe that looms ahead, starting eight to 10 years from now. And the situation will keep getting worse, until hospitals may be forced to turn away all but the most critically ill patients. Different Nurses are the backbone of the healthcare system. In hospitals, doctors diagnose, prescribe and perform surgery.
Nurses provide the treatment they order.
There have been nurse shortages before, but this one is different. Md. When nursing or teaching were the main professions in which women were welcome, she says, few young women went to nursing schools with the intention of making nursing a life-long career. Many left their jobs fairly soon to marry and raise families, or they got married and worked only part-time. Regional shortages have occurred from time to time for various reasons, often the difference in pay between smaller city and rural hospitals and large urban ones. New graduates always came along to correct any maldistribution of the nursing work force, or older nurses returned to work.