PBS: Bill of Health: Nurse Shortage
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Registered nurses are the largest single group of healthcare workers in the country. But experts predict there may not be enough of them to meet the nation's healthcare needs in a few more years. That has healthcare professionals worried... and looking for answers. Jeff Yastine takes a closer look in this week's "Bill of Health" report.
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Learning Matters - Critical Condition: America's Nursing Shortage
Original Airdate: November 13, 2006
Nursing Shortage. watch this program with Real Player
Across the country, hospitals face a critical nursing shortage, threatening care for millions of Americans. But there’s no shortage of qualified applicants at community college nursing programs, which have traditionally trained most of the nurses in this country. The problem is many of those aspiring nurses are stuck on waiting lists—for years— and it’s only getting worse.
As part of our NewsHour coverage on community colleges, this segment explores the reasons for the bottleneck—from the high cost of nurse training, to the difficulty finding faculty, to state funding formulas that don’t distinguish between the cost of classroom lectures and significantly more expensive lab courses.
As baby boomers grow older, the demand for nurses will only increase, yet thousands of would-be nurses are still waiting....
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