United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2001-07-10 monographic deposited born digital 19 p. GA 1.13:GAO-01-944 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-944 P0b002ee18038b311 f:d01944 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-23 GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-944 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-944 GAO-01-944 Health care personnel Health services administration Labor force Labor supply Personnel recruiting Projections Job satisfaction surveys Medicare Prospective Payment System Other Written Product A01418 Health and long-term care systems in the United States rely heavily on the services of nurses, the largest group of health care providers. Concerns have recently been raised about the adequacy of both the current and projected supply of nurses to meet the nation's needs. In this report, GAO reviews (1) whether there is evidence of a current nursing shortage, (2) the reasons for current nurse recruitment and retention problems, and (3) what is known about the projected future supply of and demand for nurses. GAO found that (1) national data are not adequate to describe the nature and extent of nurse workforce shortages, nor are data sufficiently sensitive or current to compare nurse workforce availability across states, specialties, or provider types, (2) the multiple factors that affect recruitment and retention problems include the aging of the nurse workforce resulting from reduced entry of younger people into the profession as well as nurses' job dissatisfaction, and (3) a serious shortage of nurses is expected in the future as demographic pressures influence both demand and supply. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-944/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-944.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-944/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-944.pdf GAO-01-944 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-944 Other Written Product GAO-01-944; Nursing Workforce: Emerging Nurse Shortages Due to Multiple Factors; Health care personnel Health services administration Labor force Labor supply Personnel recruiting Projections Job satisfaction surveys Medicare Prospective Payment System