The Nursing Shortages: Where Are Nurses Needed Most infographic visually depicts nursing job shortages and the roles and locations where nurses are the most in-demand.
A Turn for the Worse: The Biggest Nursing Shortages
With most Baby Boomers heading into retirement, the nursing industry will soon experience a worrisome shortage. Schools of nursing are trying to meet the demand by expanding their programs and offering accelerated coursework; however, it is still projected that there will be a massive scarcity of trained RNs. So where will these shortages happen? What states, people, and fields will be affected most?
A Frightening Future for Nursing
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The RN workforce is expected to grow from 2.7 million jobs in 2014 to 3.2 million jobs in 2024. That is an increase of 16%, and one of the highest of any industry in the U.S. (1) Nursing schools across the country have only seen a 3.6% increase in enrollment, nowhere near enough to meet the projected demand of nurses in the coming years. (1)
55% – Percentage of the nursing workforce that is 50+ years old, with more than 1 million RNs retiring in the next 10 to 15 years. By 2025, many states on the east and west coasts will experience nursing shortages.
Future Nurse Deficit by State
- Hawaii: 200
- South Carolina: 600
- Montana: 800
- Maine: 1,700
- Rhode Island: 2,100
- Alaska: 2,700
- New Mexico: 3,400
- California: 3,700
- Oregon: 6,000
- Georgia: 6,700
- Washington: 7,000
- Nevada: 7,800
- Maryland: 12,100
- Colorado: 12,900
- North Carolina: 12,900
- Arizona: 28,100
Shortage by Specialty
Certain fields of nursing will suffer bigger shortages than others because of job growth.
Fastest-growing nursing fields
Field: Job growth
- Nurse midwife: 31%
- Nurse practitioner: 25%
- Nurse anesthetist: 22%
- Clinical nurse: 20%
- Psychiatric nurse: 20%
- Trauma nurse: 20%
- Travel nurse: 20%
- Geriatric nurse: 20%
- Oncology nurse: 20%
- Dialysis nurse: 19%
- Pain management nurse: 19%
- Pediatric nurse: 19%
- Traveling nurses are — and will continue to be — one of the highest fields in demand, particularly in certain U.S. cities, including: (4)
Traveling Nurse Cities with Shortages
- Los Angeles
- Denver
- Seattle
- Atlanta
- Minneapolis
- Houston
- Chicago
Nursing Educators
Another area where the nursing industry is suffering is education. Colleges will see higher demand and a short supply of nursing faculty, which causes nursing student numbers to fall.
64,067 – Number of qualified nursing school applicants turned away in 2016 due to a lack of faculty (1)
7.9% – Current national nurse faculty vacancy rate (1)
62.2 – Average age of doctorally prepared nursing professors in the U.S., is close to retirement age. (1)
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