National Shortage Prompts Lawmakers to Consider Proposals to Boost Number of Nurses
With the United States facing a "growing" nursing shortage, Abigail Trafford writes in a Washington Post Health Section column that lawmakers "suddenly" have begun to listen to what nurses are saying. Trafford points to a recent HRSA survey that found the total number of nurses has risen a "bare" 5% since 1996, down from a 14% increase between 1992 and 1996. In addition, the average age of nurses is now over 45, with the "bulk of nurses" set to retire "just as the baby boom hits Medicare age," Trafford writes. HRSA Administrator Claude Earl Fox said that the 5% increase in nurses "is not keeping up with demand," adding, "This is the lowest rate of growth since we began collecting data in 1977." Still, Trafford notes that Congress has begun to hold hearings on the issue, adding that Sens. Jim Jeffords (R-Vt.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.) will soon propose the Nursing Reinvestment Act, a bill that would "bolste[r] the nursing ranks" (Trafford, Washington Post, 2/27). Sen. Tim Hutchinson (R-Ark.), chair of the Senate Health, Education Labor and Pensions aging subcommittee, also plans to introduce similar legislation (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 2/14).
Still Not Enough
According to Trafford, the Nursing Reinvestment Act would provide funding for nursing education, establish an outreach program to attract young
