Health Care Workforce: Nurses Toolkit

An Alliance for Health Reform Toolkit produced with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

The U.S. health care system is undergoing a transformation in response to a number of factors. These include but are not limited to provisions in the health reform law, advances in technology and the aging of the population. Whatever the cause and directions of change, many analysts predict a shortage of health care providers in the next decade and beyond. Debates continue in policy circles among researchers, analysts and stakeholders on whether the shortages are due to insufficient numbers of providers or maldistribution of those providers. There are areas of the country, desirable locations such as big cities and major medical centers, where providers can't find jobs, and others where there are no providers to fill empty slots.

This toolkit focuses on nursing, the coming shortages, how they might be avoide, and how health reform is contributing to the changing role of nursing.

Currently there are almost 3 million employed, licensed registered nurses in the United States. Most, about 60 percent, work in hospitals. Almost 266,000 are advanced practice registered nurses. It is projected that 260,000 additional nurses will be needed by 2025 to care for the increased population, the increase in insured population and the explosive care needs for chronic diseases in the population and geriatric care in older age groups.