As America’s population continues to diversify and the RN work force continues to age, innovative programs are reaching out to the next generation of minority nurses
Although many nursing schools around the country have successfully increased the racial and ethnic diversity of their student populations, there is still a severe shortage of minority nursing faculty.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that jobs for RNs will experience faster-than-average growth through 2006, with job opportunities increasing by 21% in nursing, compared to 14% for all other occupations.
By the year 2010, more than 40% of the nursing work force will be over the age of 50 and by the year 2020, the demand for nurses will exceed the supply by 20%, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Although the number of licensed registered nurses in the United States increased by more than 5% between 1996 and 2000, this growth rate was much smaller than in previous years, holding little hope of any quick fix for the nation’s worsening nursing shortage.
