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America's aging population may strain nurses further 2009-12-22 The healthcare system in America is already facing nurse shortages, and the problem is likely to worsen as baby boomers age, CNNMoney reported this week. America is rapidly graying: people 65 and older composed 12.4 percent of the population in 2000 but are expected to make up 20 percent by 2030, the government's Administration on Aging says. And today's nursing shortage - caused, experts say, by a lack of qualified nursing instructors - will only get worse. According to Peter Buerhaus, a workforce analyst at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, America will have a shortfall of 260,000 RNs by 2025. "We're not replacing [retiring] nurses even as the demand for them will be growing," he was quoted as saying. Nursing schools "are pumping out about as many as they can," added Cheryl Peterson of the American Nurses Association. While nothing can replace a human nurse, some technological innovations may help lighten nurses' workload. CNNMoney described a robot nurse, Twendy-One, that can help older people with household tasks. And a new system - already installed at the hospital at the University of Mississippi - can monitor patients electronically. One nurse can keep an eye on 30 to 40 patients, the Clarion-Ledger reported, and the system has been shown to reduce both mortality and hospital stays.  |
