Future Nursing Workforce

I. The challenge to sustain the supply and demand of the future nursing workforce is more serious than ever.
A. As of January 2016, there are only 3.9 million professionally active nurses in the United States.
B. In the next 5 years, the U.S. will be in a dire demand for at least 1 million new nurses.
C. The Baby Boomer generation *explain who they are* are a primary factor with the nursing deficit.
1. Today, there are more Americans over the age of 65.
2. Between 2010 and 2030, the population of senior citizens will increase by 75 percent to a drastic 69 million (1 in 5 will be senior citizen)

D. The demand for health-care is sky rocketing as the population ages
1. 80 percent of older adults have at least one chronic condition
2. 68

According to “The Atlantic”, “around a million registered nurses (RNs) are currently older than 50.”
B. One-third of the current nursing workforce will reach retirement age in the next 10 to 15 years.
C. 700,000 nurses are predicted to retire or leave the work force by 2024. Transition: (It is clear that there are shortage of nurses, but why is the body modification of the tattoo being making it a challenge when there are factual reports of real nurses (without tattoos) demonstrating disruptive behavior?)
III. Tattoos have been highly controversial in America since ages ago but are considered even more taboo in the American nursing workforce.
A. Many people believe that the appearance of a nurse with tattoos looks unprofessional and can ruin the image of nursing.
1. Some even perceive that tattoos and nursing correlated to uneducated practicing.
2. “Nurses Together”, asserts that “Initially people question the nurse’s competence and judgment.”
B. Now, “American Nurse Today” stresses that “We expect nurses to model behaviors that reflect courtesy, respect, and good manners. But recent surveys reveal that nurses display almost as much disruptive behavior as physicians. What’s worse, this behavior can hurt

“MEDPAGE TODAY” states that these disruptive behaviors “fell into four larger categories, which accounted for 76% of survey variance: making fun of others, learning environment (for example, texting during conferences or not correcting a patient who mistakes a student for a doctor), workload management (for example, celebrating a blocked admission or coming to work sick), time pressure (for example, backing up a resident's note without being confident about the content of the documentation”
C. There could be potentially so many great future nurses with tattoos who would never bother to display those negative behaviors but they are overlooked because of their tattoo(s).
1. Why isn’t there strong emphasis on the nurses that display disruptive behaviors?
2. Their actions prove that they are incompetent, unprofessional, and uneducated practicing. (what nurses with tattoos were supposed to be)
So the real question is, what can WE do to make it easier for those with tattoos to become contributing members of the nursing work force and for the thriving population?
IV. The problem will not be solved overnight but a gradual yet consistent push will make it possible.
A. The first step is to have the problem (our voice) heard/ noticed by the American Nurses Association (ANA).
1. We need to write petitions and make it even more clear (present data) that America is facing nurse shortage