To research more careers options, see our previous Job Market articles . In three decades of treating the sick and injured, she said, the stresses and demands placed on nurses have exploded, but their salaries have not.
Nursing has to promote the profession.
Nursing, on the other hand, requires four years of study. Another reason for the shortage is that fewer women are going into nursing, and men aren't entering the profession in great numbers, either. In 1996, the most recent statistics available, about 5.4 percent of registered nurses nationally were men, although the numbers were on the rise. The report concludes the worst of the shortage wouldn't be seen until the baby-boom generation retires. Hospitals should work to raise salaries across the board for nurses, Yu said.