Inactive nurses: a source for alleviating the nursing shortage?

Objective: This study seeks to provide an understanding of why inactive registered nurses chose to become inactive and what they would require for them to return to nursing. Background: In 2000, a shortage of 110,000 (6%) registered nurses existed in the United States. If the current trends continue, the shortage is projected to grow to 29% by 2020. One solution to the nursing shortage may be attracting nurses with inactive licenses back into employment. Methods: This study used a quantitative, cross-sectional survey design. Data analysis included descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: Inactive nurses (N = 428) younger than 60 years in 1 Southern state were surveyed. A major portion (27.6%) of these nurses left nursing because of a conflict between parenting duties and scheduling requirements (13.5%) at work and indicated that they would return to nursing if given the opportunity to work part-time, especially if shifts were flexible and shorter. Conclusion: Although the group of registered nurses younger than 60 years do not constitute a large percentage of nurses in this country, they are a potential source of alleviating, to some extent, the critical nursing shortage. Employers can encourage many of these nurses to return to work by providing more flexible work schedules, including part-time and shorter shifts, as well as decreased workloads.