Meeting the Challenges of the New Millennium: Challenges Facing the Nurse Workforce in a Changing Environment. Sixth Annual Report to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Congress

摘要

The organization and delivery of health care in the United States is continually changing in order to meet new economic challenges and to adopt improvements and innovations in patient care. Delivery of health care services in the United States is becoming more demanding as the health care system is becoming more complex and the expectation for services is growing. Factors underlying the increased challenges include: an aging population that is demanding increasing amounts of health care services; cost pressures; consumers who are demanding greater focus on the quality of health care; innovations in patient care such as new medications and new technologies that require new skills and knowledge; and an increasingly diverse population for whom the most effective care requires increased cultural competence and sensitivity. The nurse workforce plays a critical role in addressing such challenges. Nurses are the single largest component of the health care workforce. However, projections show a shortage of registered nurses (RNs) expanding to potentially insurmountable levels over the next decade and a half.