Author: Kira Miko Taniguchi

Publisher:

Published: 2010

Total Pages:

ISBN-13:

The nation is currently facing one of the worst nursing shortages ever. Because Texas is the fastest-growing state in the nation, the shortage has hit the Lone Star State hard, and in Central Texas, the nursing shortage is especially evident. Many nurses in Central Texas feel the shortage all too acutely everyday. It is not simply one thing that has caused it; in fact, a series of issues has contributed to the shortage. A lack of funding has led to fewer slots available in nursing schools for students, a lack of faculty available to teach the students and a shortage of entry-level positions for newly graduated nurses. All of this coupled with a generation of baby boomers set to retire has created quite the problem for the nursing shortage in Central Texas. The symptoms have existed for quite some time now, and like many illnesses, the longer a problem is ignored, the worse it becomes. There is not one simple remedy to cure the shortage overnight. The prescription: more funding, more faculty and more entry-level positions, which will inevitably be the band-aid to help heal the shortage over time.