Researchers find decline in number of younger nurses

“Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, the supply of RNs is under threat again,” wrote researchers at the Center for Interdisciplinary Health Workforce Studies at Montana State University College of Nursing, Bozeman. Using data from the Current Population Survey, their recently published analyses showed that growth in the RN workforce plateaued during the first 15 months of the pandemic, and the total supply of RNs decreased by more than 100,000 in 2021, “a far greater drop than ever observed over the past four decades,” with the decrease stemming primarily from younger RNs leaving the workforce. An interview with one of the researchers in The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety provides additional insights on the future supply of RNs. (Health Affairs blogpost, 4/13/22)