Although nurses are the backbone of the healthcare profession, there continues to be an overwhelming shortage of nurses. Analysts predict that the shortage of nurse will increase to more than 400,000 by 2020 (Maes, 2002). A few contributing factors to the nursing shortage include the aging of the baby boomers as well as the increased need for healthcare. Nurses are retiring from the healthcare field and nursing programs have not been able to keep up with fulfilling the demand. …show more content…
There are many people who would like to be a nurse, but have difficulties getting into a nursing program. Some have issues with their grades and others are not able to attend school on a full time basis due to prior commitments. Also, there are not enough clinic sites for students to train. Nursing programs need to make learning opportunities more accessible for non-traditional students. They should extend clinic sites beyond the local hospitals and look toward partnering with nursing homes and other healthcare