RN Labor Supply Bubble: What Does it Mean for Rural Health Care?

Over the past year, many studies have predicted that a temporary employment bubble is approaching for Registered Nurses in many urban areas. In response to one of the more recent articles discussing this trend, authored by Staiger, Auerbach, & Buerhaus and appearing in the April edition of the New England Journal of Medicine, the Online Journal of Rural Nursing and Health Care's editor, Pamela Stewart Fahs, DSN, RN, brought up the important question as to how this trend will effect rural nursing. Dr. Fahs discussed how the upcoming labor supply bubble may actually improve rural nursing by making these health care facilities more competitive with their urban counterparts. By having a tougher job market, new nurse graduates may be more willing to relocate than they have been in the past.

To read Dr. Fahs' editorial, click here.

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