information about the nursing
shortage in the united states

Nonetheless, the IOM and other experts agree that we are facing a shortage of nurse aides throughout the country. The current low- unemployment economy has increased competition for workers and exacerbated the shortage of nurse aides. With a low national unemployment rate, higher paying jobs with better working conditions have opened up for women who have traditionally held nurse aide jobs.

Recent national analyses demonstrate the growing concern over the supply of these workers. In a 1999 survey of state long-term care ombudsmen, the respondents from more than 40 states reported critical shortages of direct care staff.19 In another recent survey of states, officials from 42 of the 48 states responding reported that nurse aide recruitment and retention were currently major workforce issues in their states.

More than two-thirds of these states (30 of 42) reported that they were actively engaged in efforts to address these issues.

Several state or local level studies cite nurse aide recruitment as a problem for many providers. In a 2000 study of the nurse aide workforce in Pennsylvania, staff shortages were reported by three-fourths of nursing homes and more than half of all home health care agencies.

Over half (53 percent) of private nursing homes and 46 percent of certified home health care agencies reported staff vacancy rates higher than 10 percent.

Nineteen percent of nursing homes and 25 percent of home health care agencies reported vacancy rates exceeding 20 percent. The Dallas-Ft. Worth Hospital Council reported a hospital vacancy rate for nurse aides of 17 percent in 2000, up from 11 percent in 1999. A recent survey of providers in Vermont found high vacancy rates for nurse aides, particularly in hospitals and nursing homes; as of June 2000, the vacancy rate for nurse aides in nursing homes was 16 percent, in hospitals 15 percent, and in home health care 8 percent.

Some policymakers and planners have expressed concerns about the quality and timeliness of data currently available on these workers. HRSA is currently funding a project to assess trends, issues, and projections of supply and demand for nurse aides. It is expected that this work will be completed by late 2001 and will include identifying, comparing, and assessing the adequacy of existing data sources for assessing the scope and scale of current workforce shortages.

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