Nurses perhaps the best friend of a patient. Though they get paid for their job, yet the care and concern they exhibit for the patient is unparalleled and remarkable. The nursing territory generally belongs to females. But even men like women can take up this profession after adequate training. However, since past few years a decline is seen in the number of people taking up nursing as a career. There can be many reasons behind it. So, the primary task of this article will be to enumerate these various causes along with the consequences of shrinking number of registered nurses day by day.

Exploring the different causes:

Less number of schools can be a foremost factor. There are not many schools that run programs to make future nurses.

Adding to the plight is the fact that the schools that exist are in an awful condition. There is not just lack of funds, laboratories and clinical equipments here but the faculty too is not enough and well qualified. These issues preclude many people from entering into this profession. While those who enter the program confront problems at all stages and at times end up giving it up or leaving it in the middle.

The age factor is another drawback. The average age for the registered nurses is significantly high. So, the moment these registered nurses retire, there occurs an acute shortage of new ones.

No appropriate measures are taken to train new nurses. Even the hospitals that take up this task are reluctant to spend good amount on training nurses. The medical and other facilities are very poor. This entails reluctance on the part of individuals to seek employment as a nurse.

Novel and advanced courses- many new and advanced courses like MBA, Mass Communication and so forth are picking pace these days. They are usually equipped with best facilities and funds and are seen fetching rich jobs. So more guys and gals are willing to make a wealthy career via such courses.

The restricted scope for growth, relatively low salary structure and tremendous workload are also the debarring features. The job of a nurse is deemed to be quite a stressful job nowadays, that requires prolonged working even at odd hours.

The Outcomes:

A surge in demographic levels has resulted in more number of big and small diseases and so large number of patients. But the shortage of nurses adversely affects patients in hospitals. They fail to get adequate care and vigilance. Studies have revealed that in past few years, greater numbers of patients are dying in hospitals due to negligence. The ailing men and women do not take medicines on time and there are no nurses to keep an eye on them all round the clock and instigate them to take their doses regularly. Thus, the health care has received a major setback due to the diminishing number of registered nurses these days.

The dip in nursing career has given birth to temporary and contract nursing. This type of nursing has proved to be a little help in meeting the scarcity of registered nurses.