Recommendations from the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International

The Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International has noted that the nursing shortage is a major threat to the future of the world's health care system. They have recommended the steps listed below as a possible means to reverse the trend:

• Demonstrate to health care leaders that nurses are the critical difference in America's health system.
• Reposition nursing as a highly versatile profession where young people can learn science and technology, customer service, critical thinking and decision-making skills.
• Construct practice environments that are interdisciplinary and build on relationships among nurses, physicians, other health care professionals, patients and communities.
• Create patient care models that encourage professional nurse autonomy and clinical decision-making.
• Develop additional evaluation systems that measure the relationship of timely nursing interventions to patient outcomes.
• Establish additional standards and mechanisms for recognition of professional practice environments.
• Develop career enhancement incentives for nurses to pursue professional practice.
• Evaluate the effects of the nursing shortage on the preparation of the next generation of nurse educators, nurse administrators and nurse researchers and take strategic action.
• Implement and sustain a marketing effort that addresses the image of nursing and the recruitment of qualified students into nursing as a career.
• Promote higher education to nurses of all educational levels.
• Develop and implement strategies to promote the retention of RNs and nurse educators in the workforce.

Thank you for this great information! We need to continue to share ideas and strategies as professionals and to educate the public on the value of the nursing profession.
More great information can be found on the web site (This site is also available in many other languages.) http://www.nursingsociety.org/Media/Pages/shortage.aspx