A coalition of 16 national health- care organizations is planning to address the image issue with a nationwide advertising campaign to recruit nurses and educate the public about the nursing profession. Meanwhile, attracting well-educated nurses to hospital jobs in not impossible, according to the experts. Research by Aiken found that magnet hospitals have better nurse retention and higher nursing job satisfaction, as well as lower rates of patient mortality, higher patient satisfaction rates, shorter lengths of stays in both the hospitals overall and in intensive care units, and greater cost-efficiency. More than 50 percent of the registered nurses at magnet hospitals have bachelor s degrees compared to only about 34 percent of registered nurses working in other hospitals, Aiken said. Two of those facilities are located in Florida, one in St. Petersburg and the other in Boca Raton.
Professional nursing can be an intellectually challenging, personally rewarding career.
For this to be reality, we must work for higher educational standards, licensing regulation changes and work environments that value the contributions of nurses. As consumers of health care, UF alumni can have an impact on the nursing shortage. If not, write the hospital CEO and ask that magnet hospital status be considered. Every patient admitted to a hospital should ask about her or his nurse manager , one specific registered nurse, with at least a bachelor s degree, who is accountable to the patient and family during the stay. Consumers need to ask for this basic standard of care and object in writing when it is not available.