 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Rita Carty, MSN, DNSc, George Mason University, 11413 Hollow Tree Lane, Rockville, MD 20852, 703-993-1918, rcarty@gmu.edu
One of the major issues faced by health care systems across the globe is the expanding and deepening global nursing shortage. Nurses and midwives comprise the largest group of health care providers. The shortage is an issue of service delivery, adequate workforce, education and policy. It has an impact on health outcomes and health systems performance rendering it both a safety and a quality of care issue. The causes of the shortage include globalization, trade agreements, migration, local, national and regional influences, North-South parameters and the resulting ethical, financial and societal impact. Causes, current conditions and current interventions and future impact of this significant global, national and local health care workforce issue will be discussed.
Particular attention will be paid to different perspectives on nursing workforce issues, and the different implications for policy and action that they might imply. For example, in the United States, by any definition there is a massive and growing nurse shortage. One response is to encourage recruitment of foreign nurses. These nurses, however, may be lured away from areas that have an even greater shortage of nurses. These considerations suggest that, in addressing the nursing shortage, policy makers need simultaneously to bear in mind conflicting local, national and global perspectives. By the end of the session, participants may expect to have an increased understanding of the nature and causes of the nurse workforce shortage in different areas of the world, and to participate in discussion of how conflicting perspectives on them may be reconciled.
Learning Objectives:
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.