Care provision for older adults: who will provide?

The aging of the baby boomers comes at a time of a growing nursing workforce shortage: registered nurses, nurse aides, and nursing faculty. Older adults have multiple physical, social, and psychological conditions, making the assessment, planning, and delivery of health care more complex than that of younger adults. Not surprisingly, this age group also utilizes the majority of health services in the country. Thus, most nurses will provide care to older adults in a variety of settings. However, the majority of nurses have little to no background in geriatric nursing. These multiple forces: aging population with complex needs, nursing work force shortage, and lack of geriatric knowledge, along with fewer resources, will have a grave impact on health care in this country in the near future. This article reviews issues related to an aging population, the projected nursing workforce shortage, and the lack of geriatric nursing education; it concludes with suggestions for future health care delivery to the geriatric population in the US