As if the health care agonies afflicting the United States were not already nearing pandemic proportions, a recent analytical evaluation conducted by the federal Department of Labor reported that the disquieting scarcity of certified nurses around parts of the rust belt and deep south only represents the first signs of a seriously egregious threat to public welfare. Worse yet, the graying of America, in other words, the looming costs to social programs as the Baby Boomer generation passes the age of retirement and progressively requires managed care is only half of the quandary. According to financial authorities extrapolating the deeper meaning behind the Bureau of Labor Statistics data, what should truly concern medical authorities is the outsized proportion of Registered Nurses themselves nearing senior status.

The discrepancy between the paucity of certified applicants and the unmet clamor for their services has confounded the health care community, particularly since the jobs themselves are so richly treasured by the men and women choosing nursing as a career. Above and beyond the philosophical benefits of continual self-actualization and the pride that comes from so clearly making an immediately noticeable difference for the better, the steady shortage of qualified practitioners has guaranteed that the tangible benefits are substantial as well, but, more than their contemporaries in other professional occupations given similar training demands and salary considerations, health care workers are almost uniquely required to continue their education from the moment they begin work in order to properly approach their career progression.

As part of the non profit organization’s overall goals to supply medical care for deserving subjects across the globe independent of financial status, the Red Cross alone operates training centers in nearly every significant American city for negligible fees, but they’re clearly intended to singularly service the educational needs of future volunteers. Unfortunately, just as the requirements of the nursing profession have grown all the more substantial and unwieldy (and the market for their services has expanded alongside), the tumultuous nose dive of the American economy has diminished the opportunities for ordinary applicants to afford the tuition of nursing colleges, one of the reasons that getting an online degree has received so much press.

We could blame the tightened standards for nursing certification (and, let’s keep in mind, women formerly consigned to caregiver roles now often choose medical school instead), hospitals and public health facilities cannot find sufficient qualified candidates to replace the exiting generation despite unprecedented bumps in starting salaries. According to some pundits, blame for the worsening predicament should be centered around not the expected earnings but the initial price tag charged by nursing schools, and, for this singular issue, the obvious band aid scenario (getting a degree online from a virtual university existing only over the internet) may also be a worthwhile long term fix. Read the rest of this entry »