Update on the Nursing/HealthCare Worker Shortage

The shortage of qualified health care professionals is becoming critical in the U.S. While current regulations attempt to alleviate the problem by preserving Registered Nurses on Schedule A, Group I, as pre-certified by the DOL as a shortage occupation, this has proven to be less than adequate in relieving the crisis. While, RNs are exempt from the individual labor certification process., the United States is in the midst of a nursing shortage that is projected to intensify as baby boomers age and the need for health care grows and our existing programs are not likely to accommodate the expected impact on the demand for health care workers. Also aggrevating the problem, is the fact that the number of new nurses is decreasing with enrollments at nursing colleges and universities still in decline.

• According to the American Hospital Association's June 2001 TrendWatch, 126,000 nurses are currently needed to fill vacancies at our nation's hospitals. Today, fully 75% of all hospital personnel vacancies are for nurses. www.aha.org
• According to the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, the number of first-time, U.S. educated nursing school graduates who sat for the NCLEX-RN®, the national licensure examination for all entry-level registered nurses, decreased by 28.7% from 1995-2001. A total of 27,679 fewer students in this category of test takers sat for the exam in 2001 as compared with 1995. www.ncsbn.org

Hospitals, long term care facilities, nursing homes and other health care providers across the nation are having difficulty finding experienced nurses who are willing to work in their facilities. Nurses are also reporting that understaffing is jeopardizing patient care. Job burnout is prevalent in hospitals due to mandatory overtime and this itself leads the average American nurse to leave hospital employment after only four years. In addition, projections show that these current shortages are just a minor indication of the universal shortages that will soon confront our health care system. That said, more and more health care employers are looking overseas to foreign nurses to subdue the shortage. However, the immigration system and the current regulations make the influx of nursing professionals to the U.S. more and more difficult. New INS proposed regulations discussed elsewhere in this newsletter will tighten things even further.

Additionally, there is a shortage of skilled workers including CNAs and LPNs which is becoming progressively more critical. At present there are no temporary visas available for this group of essential workers and the permanent residence process is unreasonably lengthy. GT and other advocates are working vigorously to make necessary legislative and statutory changes on behalf of our clients to address these issues.

Bringing in foreign healthcare workers is a complex process but when employers are guided by professionals the process can be somewhat simplified. The immigration and employment law groups at GT offer counseling to employers throughout the entire course of action.

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