The Truth About Long Term Care, Part Two: Nursing Shortages Affect Quality of Care
As the U.S. retirement population grows, increasing demand forworkers providing long-term care will become more of a problem becauseof the overall shortage of nurses, experts told United PressInternational.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has estimated that jobs fordirect-care workers in long-term care settings will grow by about800,000 by 2010, or roughly 45 percent, while more than 1 million newand replacement nurses will be needed across the entire medical fieldby 2012.
At present, nearly 96,000 nursing positions are vacant in long-term care facilitiesin the United States, with a staff turnover rate that exceeds 50percent, according to an “Act Now for Your Tomorrow,” issued last Aprilby the National Commission on Nursing Workforce for Long-Term Care.
The current long-term-care nursing workforce exceeds 1.9 millionindividuals, the commission reported, with over 54 percent oflong-term-care employees consisting of nurses and nursing aides.