NursingHands - A Web site for Nurses and Nursing Professionals. Including a Nurse Only Career Center. Recent studies show that nationwide health care centers are undergoing a nursing shortage, which in turn has led to overworked nurses and untreated patients. It's very scary because it's really a matter of life and death.
Unsafe conditions can happen rapidly.
Openings for registered nurses will grow faster than the average for all occupations through 2006, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, largely because of the growing demand in settings such as health maintenance organizations, community health centers, home care and long-term care. These extended hours may lead to minor accidents that could cost lives. Kerrigan Clancy, a senior nursing major and head of the National Student Nurses Association at SU, said she has already felt the effects of this shortage. Clancy, who works at the Glens Falls Hospital in Glens Falls, N.Y., said she is frequently called in to work overtime. The burnout rate is insane.