Toward a Stronger Post-Pandemic Nursing Workforce

Abstract

The deep effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on frontline health care providers have given rise to concerns about the demands of nursing work and the appeal of nursing careers. Though these concerns have special resonance right now, this is not the first time apprehensions about the adequacy and sustainability of the U.S. nurse workforce have felt especially acute. In the mid-1990s, financial pressures in the health care industry led to changes that created stress and insecurity among hospital nurses that culminated in substantial declines in the numbers of people enrolling in and graduating from nursing education programs. Nearly a quarter-century later, we have another opportunity to turn the tide of a workforce crisis, this one induced by the Covid pandemic, but the circumstances are notably different. In June 2022, a group of 25 workforce analysts (including us) met in Bozeman, Montana, to examine the pandemic’s effect on nurses, discuss evolving scenarios, and identify strategies for strengthening the current and future workforce.

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