So you say there's a nursing shortage?

Sometimes it's difficult to imagine there's an actual nursing shortage in our area when I hear new nursing graduates state, "I'm still looking for a job". However, there are many factors that contribute to this phenomenon. Increasing costs of health care and the state of financial distress within our nation has caused our medical facilities to tighten their budgets. Like any business, they are being asked to work more with less. This strategy is resulting in increased patient:nurse ratios, increased use of overtime shifts for "high volume" hours, using travel nurses to fulfill short-term vacancies, in addition to nurse burn out. In critical care areas such as Critical Care Units, Pediatric or Neonatal Intensive Care Units, or the Emergency Department, vacancies are being offered to experienced nurses due to the complexity and cost of training new graduates. If we as nurses continue to suppress our voices, accept these budget-conscious strategies, and act merely as "task-masters", someone else (most likely somewhat who is not familiar with the roles and responsibilties of a registered nurse) will be making decisions for us. An interesting research fact reported in the book Policy & Politics in Nursing and Healthcare (2012) states, "an increase in workforce (to reach adequate staffing levels) would reduce hospital stays by 3.6 million days and thus generate additional productivity value of $231 million annually and $6.1 billion in annual medical savings" (Mason, Leavitt, & Chaffee). It's time to let our voices be heard.