Potential nursing students are concerned about choosing a profession with job security and ask the recruiter, "Because more people are choosing nursing, will I have a job in a few years?"

Question

The recruiter answer that by 2025, on the basis of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics prediction:
a. positions that have historically required RNs will be filled by foreign nurses.
b. the nursing shortage will increase twofold, the largest shortage in almost 50 years.
c. the need for hospital nurses will dramatically decrease as nurses reenter the profession.
d. hospitals will finally achieve the required RN workforce, reducing the need for more RNs.

Answer 1

ANS: B
Correct: According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the nursing shortage is predicted to be twice as large as any previous shortage since Medicare and Medicaid in 1965.
Incorrect:
a. The number of foreign nurses arriving in the United States is not sufficient to cure the shortage, and a large number of these nurses are unsuccessful on the NCLEX-RN®, resulting in an inability of foreign RNs to practice.
c. Although slightly more than half of all nurses practice in hospitals, 84.8% of its licensed members are currently in nursing practice. Thus, reentering RNs will not dramatically reduce the shortage.
d. Even by 2025, it is projected that the United States will need 260,000 more RNs than will be available.