CNOs Face Hiring Challenges Despite Nurse Supply Numbers

Despite a steady influx of recent graduates into the nursing workforce, chief nursing officers (CNOs) report they have difficulty recruiting staff and remain concerned about a looming nursing shortage. The RN supply and demand numbers look roughly in balance, said David Auerbach, PhD, of the Center for Interdisciplinary Health Workforce Studies at Montana State University, who spoke during a webinar hosted by the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). However, he added, “there is an imbalance in what employers seem to be wanting and what they are finding in the workforce." UCSF Professor Joanne Spetz, PhD, who has surveyed California CNOs about the RN labor market for the past eight years, also took part in the event. She said in the past four years the vast majority of respondents reported a nursing shortage, especially when it comes to experienced nurses. Shortages were most pronounced in rural areas, with some urban CNOs reporting a surplus of newly graduated nurses, Spetz said. Her survey also found a notable increase in the percentage of hospitals requiring new hires to have a bachelor’s degree. (HealthLeaders Media story, 8/16/19)