April 5- Increasingly, there is a severe shortage of nurses in America's hospitals, which is having a direct and sometimes deadly impact on patients and their families.
The American Medical Association says that since the 1980s, the number of women entering nursing has declined as high-paying opportunities for women have expanded in other areas.Many hospital administrators warn that the nursing shortage will only become worse in the years to come. They foresee an aging population filling up hospitals while many of today's nurses are retiring.
Nationwide, hospitals have a shortfall of 126,000 nurses. The Journal of The American Medical Association says that number could grow to 400,000 in the next decade or so.
Hospitals, desperate to fill vacancies, are trying to attract nurses with offers of big bonuses and higher pay. But so far, this shortage adds up to a chronic medical problem without any quick miracle cure.
