June 8, 2001

Health Subcommittee Requests GAO Study of Nursing Shortage

House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairwoman Nancy Johnson (R-Conn.) May 22 submitted a formal letter requesting the General Accounting Office (GAO) to provide information that will clarify whether or not a nationwide nursing shortage exists. Her request is in response to a May 18 Congressional Research Service (CRS) report that concluded there is no immediate across-the-board nursing shortage.

Using recent labor statistics, CRS claims that current problems exist only regionally and in certain specialties and represent a maldistribution of labor rather than a shortage per se. The total supply of nurses, according to the CRS report, will actually increase through 2020, although at a "diminishing rate." The study does not anticipate a nationwide, across-the-board shortage until around 2010 when the declining supply of new graduates will be unable to replace a sudden increase in the number of retiring nurses.

Requesting a response by June 30, Rep. Johnson also asked for data indicating the reasons and potential solutions for the shortage. Specific issues raised by Mrs. Johnson included wages, working conditions, regulatory burdens, and alternative career opportunities for women. In terms of working conditions, Rep. Johnson asked the GAO to identify any linkages between the growth in employee dissatisfaction and the growth in union activities and whistle-blowing.

Although she asked the GAO to look at a range of nursing facilities (e.g., nursing homes), Mrs. Johnson requested that they look specifically at hospitals, as well. She is particularly interested in whether certain specialties or settings are facing a shortage and whether hospitals have had to substitute capital expenditures for wage and staffing increases over the past decade.

Information: Christiane Mitchell, AAMC Office of Governmental Relations, 202-828-0526.