Labor Market Research Sharon H. Dickens University of Phoenix Axia College February 08, 2009 Will the shortage of nurses affect the quality of care for patients? According to the Bureau of Labor statistics, Jobs in the health care field has the highest occupancy than any other available job in any industry,in 2006 2.5 million were nurses. Job opportunities for RNs are great, but will vary depending on geographic locationsand jobs. Today there is more technological advancement in treatment in patient care, and a great knowledge for preventive care. Today there is the hard task of finding a more adequate supply of RNs that is causing a shortage in many areas of the country. This shortage is due to the number of nurses at the retirement age and not enough who are young to enroll in nursing programs as well as not enough nurses to teach in the nursing programs and many other numbers that could be the cause. Factors that influence supply and demand The nursing profession has many areas the include nurses that are very broad. The areas other than RNs include Licensed practical nurses (LPNs), and nurses aides. Most RNs hold jobs in hospitals were there has been a decline since the 1980s. There are millions of registered nurses in the U.S. with most being female and only 5.4 percent being males. Because there are more different types of job opportunities and career chose available to the women of this country, this is one of the reasons for the shortage that is seen in the field of nursing. In addition to the different taste in jobs, there is also the number of students that may graduate from nursing school and the different views that come with being a RN, such as wage, hours worked and how much of the work is required. Many nurses are findi ...