Wow!

If you didn't catch today's Here and Now on NPR, click right over to check out Robin Young's feature on the nursing shortage. Mary Jane Williams, an Associate Professor of Nursing at the University of Harford, and Suzanne Gordon, author of Nursing Against the Odds and coauthor of From Silence to Voice: What Nurses Know and Must Communicate to the Public, were guests on the program. In addition to discussing the shortage of practicing nurses and the projected increasing demand in the coming decades, they also highlighted the dire shortage of nursing faculty. They explored the bizarrely inaccurate media portrayals of nursing, noting how these influence the actual public image of the profession, and they reflected on how this relates to our current nursing shortage. They highlighted the tireless work by Sandy Summers and company over at the Center for Nursing Advocacy. Perhaps most importantly, they discussed the real nature of nursing work and it's primary importance to patient health and safety. Highly unusual, I'm afraid. Thanks, Robin!