Legislative Update
WARN Legislative Update February 2012
By Judy Klaver, MSN, RN
Nurses rank as most trusted profession yet again
Nurse.com News
Tuesday December 13, 2011
Nurses maintained their dominance atop Gallup's annual poll on trustworthy professions, topping the list for the 12th time in the 13 years they have been included as an option.
The survey was conducted Nov. 28 to Dec. 1 among a random sample of 1,012 adults representing all 50 states and Washington, D.C. When asked to rate the honesty and ethical standards of nurses, 84% responded with "very high" or "high," while 15% responded "average" and only 1% responded "low" or "very low."
The 84% positive response is tied for the highest rating nurses have achieved; they received the same rating in 2001, 2006 and 2008. The only year nurses did not finish first in the survey since their inclusion was 2001, when firefighters took the top spot in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Medical professions abounded at the top of the list of 21 professions, with pharmacists (73% positive response) and medical doctors (70%) rounding out the top three. The lowest-rated professions, with a 7% positive response, were car salespeople, lobbyists and members of Congress.
"Americans are as positive as they have ever been about those in medical professions, though the public has always held doctors, nurses and pharmacists in high esteem," Gallup noted in a news release.
"The public's continued trust in nurses is well-placed, and reflects an appreciation for the many ways nurses provide expert care and advocacy," American Nurses Association President Karen A. Daley, RN, PhD, MPH, FAAN, said in a news release. "Major national policy initiatives also show trust in nurses. The Affordable Care Act and the Future of Nursing recommendations call on nurses to take more leadership roles and collaborate fully with other professionals in providing essential healthcare to a growing number of people who will have greater access to services."
ANA noted a recent high-profile legal case that underscored the commitment nurses demonstrate to patient safety and quality. In 2009, two Texas nurses reported a physician at their hospital for unsafe practices. The nurses withstood intimidation and criminal charges, and held firm to their principles (http://bit.ly/tMRplh).
When the legal battles concluded in November, four individuals involved with bringing charges against the nurses were either convicted or pled guilty to misuse of official information and retaliation.
To read the full results of the Gallup poll, visit http://bit.ly/rPpNGF.
To read the full results of the Gallup poll, visit http://bit.ly/rPpNGF.
As noted in the article below many people are saying that the nursing shortage is a myth. We need to make sure that our policy makers understand that this is not really a true statement. With the number of academic nurse educators in their 60’s and the fewer individuals who are prepared to step into those roles the shortage will continue because we will not be able to educate nurses fast enough to replace holes from retiring nurses.
As more choose nursing, shortage less likely, study finds
By Eryn Brown, Los Angeles Times / For the Booster Shots blog
December 5, 2011, 2:00 p.m.
Good news for aging baby boomers: Fears of a nursing shortage may be turning around.
Between 1979 and 1991, the number of young nurses declined nearly 50%. It continued to drop for another decade, hitting a low of 102,000 in 2002. Looking at the numbers, analysts worried that as older nurses retired, there wouldn't be anyone to replace them, leading to a shortfall.
But when economists David I. Auerbach of Rand Health, Peter I. Buerhaus of Vanderbilt University and Douglas O. Staiger of Dartmouth University revisited the census data, they found that the tide had turned: The number of full-time registered nurses between the ages of 23 and 26 increased 62% between 2002 and 2009, growing faster than it had since the 1970s.
If that trend continues, they wrote in the December edition of the journal Health Affairs, people born in the 1980s could one day make up the largest group of registered nurses ever. "The spike we've seen in young women becoming registered nurses is dramatic," Auerbach said in a statement. "If the trend continues, it will help to ease some of the concerns about future nursing shortages."
Unanticipated changes in nursing may have fueled the shift, the authors wrote. Interest in nursing did not continue to decline as some feared it might. That may have been a result of campaigns to draw people into the field or changes in nursing programs that accommodated different training styles and schedules. The sagging economy probably played a role too; as other jobs became scarce, nursing looked more attractive.
Add the fact that the number of people entering nursing at 30 or older has been increasing too, and a potential shortage seems less likely.
But not out of the question, the researchers warned. Declining numbers of primary care physicians, combined with a rising population of older people, might mean that demand for nurses could skyrocket even beyond where it is today.
Return to the Booster Shots blog.
Copyright © 2012, Los Angeles Times
Past updates
Winter 2011 update
Fall 2011 update
July 2011 update
May 2011 update
December 2010 update
May 2010 update
February 2010 update
Fall 2009 update