Issue Position: Health Care - Bolstering the Health Care Workforce

Issue Position

One of my highest priorities is to expand health care insurance coverage for all Americans. A critical element of this coverage, however, is a robust workforce to care for these individuals. Many health care professions are suffering shortages, but none more profoundly than nursing. It is estimated that the nation currently faces a shortage of more than 200,000 registered nurses--a number that is projected to grow to more than one million by 2020.

The nursing shortage is not for lack of people interested in entering the profession. Rather, the nation's nursing schools cannot meet the demand. Due to a shortage of qualified faculty members, one out of every three qualified nursing school applicants is turned away. And, due to the great demand for registered nurses, qualified nurses have little incentive to become nurse educators--particularly because the average annual salary for nurse educators is at least 20 percent less than their counterparts in clinical practice.

Exacerbating the crisis is the fact that a large percentage of current nurse faculty members--as much as 70 percent in some schools--are approaching retirement age within the next few years. With some estimates placing the current faculty shortage at nearly 10 percent, this crisis will quickly escalate without prompt and determined action to address it.

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