|
|
||||||
|
11/07 |
||||||
|
John J. Miles Appeared in the Houston Journal of Health Law and Policy, (Vol. 7, Issue 2, pp.305-378 ) Numerous sources have reported a shortage in registered nurses ("RNs") in the United States, particularly those working in hospitals, and the belief is that this shortage will worsen in the future. If true, this indicates that the quantity of RN services demanded is greater than that supplied at the current wage rate and that both this wage and the quantity of RN services employed are below the competitive-market level, resulting in inefficient RN resource allocation. The market for RN services fails to clear at the competitive-equilibrium. An interesting question is why. Absent some form of market failure, simple economic theory would predict that, over time, the return to hospital-employed RNs would increase, drawing more RNs into hospital employment in the short run and more candidates into RN training programs in the long run, ultimately resulting in a competitive-equilibrium quantity of RN services supplied and demanded at the competitive market price, obviating the shortage... The full article is available here as a pdf. [ 383k / opens in new window ] |
||||||
|
Ober, Kaler, Grimes & Shriver Maryland
Washington, D.C. Virginia |
||||||
