While news abounds that the nursing shortage is worsening year by year, one person has a sunnier view: Peter Buerhaus, director of Vanderbilt University’s Center for Interdisciplinary Health Workforce Studies.
The nurse workforce grew last year, particularly in the last six months, after a modest rebound in 2006, noted Buerhaus, who spoke recently at the American Organization of Nurse Executives’ annual meeting, according to Modern Healthcare Online. The industry added a 84,200 nurses last year despite a slight drop in real wages, he said.
Because of the positive numbers, Buerhaus and his team of analysts have now projected a lesser shortage of 285,000 nurses by 2020. Still, he acknowledged that the shortage still represents a looming threat. He believes that some of Medicare’s pay-for-performance programs will draw attention to the need for highly skilled, qualified nurses.
