June 2001 27:3 JOURNAL OF EMERGENCY NURSING 223

P R E S I D E N T ’ S M E S S A G E

Nursing’s

Current State of

Affairs

Mary Jagim, Manager of Emergency Center and Walk-in Clinics,MeritCare Medical Center, Fargo, ND, is president of the EmergencyNurses Association and a member of the Prairie Crossroads chapter; E-mail: maryjagim@meritcare.com.J Emerg Nurs 2001;27:223-4.Copyright © 2001 by the Emergency Nurses Association.

0099-1767/2001 $35.00 + 0 18/61/115632

doi:10.1067/men.2001.115632

Mary Jagim, RN, BSN, CEN, Fargo, ND

“California Groups Battling Over NursePatient Ratios.” 1

“Nursing Shortage Driving Unionization atMassachusetts Hospitals.” 2

“The Hill Tunes in to Nurses’ Lament.” 3

Recent headlines from newspapers, journals, and theevening news remind us daily of the progressive nursingshortage era we have entered. If the current trend is notreversed, by 2010, when 78 million baby boomers reachretirement, there will be approximately 1 million fewernurses than needed.4 Whereas most regions of theUnited States are already experiencing some degree ofshortage, the Pacific region of the United States has thelowest concentration of nurses per capita. Specialty areassuch as the emergency department, labor and delivery,and critical care are seeing the greatest impact because ofa decrease in training programs cut for financial reasonsand a limited number of people entering the profession.Having a reduced available workforce at a time whennursing services are in increasing demand is taking itstoll on hospitals, which are being forced to close beds,

put emergency departments on diversion status, andreduce or close services.5

The nursing shortage is affecting not only the UnitedStates but many other countries, such as South Africa,Jamaica, Canada, Great Britain, and the Netherlands. Poorcountries such as Ghana are unable to compete withwealthier countries, and their nurses often are lured awaywith offers of higher salaries.6

ENA, along with some of the other major specialtynursing groups and the American Nurses Association, havegrown increasingly concerned about the nursing shortage.ENA realizes the importance of working to create an influxof young men and women into the nursing profession,some of whom may then consider a career in emergencynursing.

Through a subgroup of the Nursing Network (a coali-tion of nursing groups of which ENA has been a leader),consensus has been reached with regard to priorities thatmust be addressed to support nursing training and buildan adequate supply of nurses. The coalition has incorpo-rated these priorities into a legislative platform to be takento Congress. These priorities include increased funding fornursing education, support for nursing faculty develop-ment, initiatives to enhance recruitment and retention ofminority nurses, and funding for specialty/residency pro-grams for nurse subspecialists such as emergency nurses. Ifadopted, these initiatives would establish a national nursecorps and offer tax incentives, community-nurse outreachgrants, and support to nursing research.

If ever there was a time for us to embrace our profes-sion and share our excitement about emergency nursing, itis now. We must all reach out to the young people in ourcommunities and approach them about a career in

224 JOURNAL OF EMERGENCY NURSING 27:3 June 2001

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE/Jagim

nursing. Many young people are not aware of the oppor-tunities available within the profession; often they only seewhat is on television or they have some limited encountersas a patient. We must welcome with open arms those whochoose nursing and mentor them as they develop as pro-fessionals. In addition, we and our nursing colleagues mustspeak out to Congress about the current needs of the nurs-ing profession in the areas of education, research, workenvironment, and reimbursement.

The future of nursing is in all our hands....

REFERENCES1. Walker C. California groups battling over nurse-patient ratios.

WebRN News 2000 Sept 6.2. Health Care Advisory Board. Nursing shortage driving unioniza-

tion at Massachusetts hospitals. Advisory Board Daily Briefing[serial online] 2001 Mar 2; 3. Available: http://www.advisory.com.

3. Trafford A. The Hill tunes in to nurses’ lament.Washingtonpost.com [online] 2001 Feb 23. Available: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49060-2001Feb23.html.

4. U.S. Department of Health And Human Services, HealthResources and Services Administration (HRSA) Bureau ofHealth Professions Division of Nursing. The registered nursepopulation, national sample survey of registered nurses—March2000. Washington (DC): DHHS; 2001.

5. Nursing shortage: Testimony of the American Organization ofNurse Executives Before the Subcomm. on Aging of the Health,Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, 107th Cong. (Feb.13, 2001).

6. Mailey S. Analysis of the nursing work force compared withnational trends. J Nurs Admin 2000;30:482-9.