Fall 2004
Vol.2 | No. 2

In this forum for discussing the “hot button” issues facing the nursing profession today, we welcome your thoughts and opinions. Check this space in each issue to see how readers answer the provocative question we pose.

Our question this issue:
What do you believe will be most successful in resolving the nationwide nursing shortage crisis?

Nurses are severely underpaid. The working conditions are demanding and in much need of revision and attention. This is not just a hospital responsibility but a national responsibility. It can be done. Let's get busy!

Pamela Perry, BSN, RN

It seems to me that whenever I read nursing magazines, or visit the Web pages of schools offering nursing programs, they seem to cater to the female audience, visually.  Maybe it is their intent to market in this manner, but it will not entice many males to inquire more about the profession.
Secondly, to attract more males to the profession, the term "Nurse" should be dropped for something more unisexual or asexual or just plain current in connotation because the word nurse is synonymous to the notion of "someone who nurtures."  I don't think this ideal appeals to the psyche of most men, especially when growing up and defining for themselves a livelihood which will appease their sense of purpose.

John E. ‘Jack’ Patterson, Jr.
Harrisburg, PA

I think that providing more hospital-based programs training LPNs to become RNs would be one way to help the nursing shortage. Hospital based programs can help by first providing more attractive scholarships and secondly providing a payback atmosphere in which nurses are trained for free with an agreement to work for the hospital for three to five years. As an LPN who has a family and finds it financially difficult to return to school, a program like that would attract someone like me and many others I know.

Camille Johnson
New York City, New York