Labor Market Research

In today's growing population, healthcare is a needed necessity. The demand for nurses is on the rise nationwide. The purpose of the nurse's profession is to help patients and clients achieve health goals. Nurses provide health care for individuals, families, and communities by performing supportive, preventive, therapeutic, and restorative interventions. Nurses are employed in institutional and community-based health care settings. They can provide health related interventions through independent action or as collaborating members of a health care team (Clark, 2000).

In Louisiana a nurses salary is determined by the highest degree completed, and the number of months worked on an assigned schedule. For student nurses, students must have worked 10 months. Many of the factors affecting supply and demand will have an impact in the future. Supply will continue to be affected by demographics, discipline choice, retention, work place health, job satisfaction, and change in the way care is delivered (Clark, 2000).

Group of nurses, Base Hospital #45

Nurse log, Quinault Rain Forest Nature Trail

Nurse Practitioner

Numerous factors can affect the supply and demand for nurses. Family circumstances of nurses may prohibit them from working full time, and regulatory requirements might lead to higher or lower demand (Miller, 2003). Some other factors have to do with nurses not being satisfied with the job because of increasing overtime, larger number of patients per nurse, decreased quality of patient care, lack of respect for nurses or the decrease in amount of time the nurse can devote to each patient (Clark, 2000). Supply and demand is also affected by population, health characteristics, wealth, unemployment, income, tax revenue, increase coverage, public programs, uninsured, payment levels for care, inpatient and outpatient care or technology (Clark, 2000).

There is a huge shortage of nurses in Louisiana and in other states. Ways that Louisiana can help to retain nurses is by offering a compensation based on what may be important to...