10/25/04: California: Nurse shortage felt here:"Lompoc Hospital officials have hired more nurses as a worldwide nurse shortage is affecting the immediate treatment of patients, officials said.
Patients needing urgent care at hospital emergency rooms are waiting a longer time for nurses to become available, said Dottie Phillips, dean of the Health Occupations Department at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria.
Throughout California, state mandated nurse-to-patient ratios are not being met and hospitals are having to hire part-time traveling nurses from abroad to compensate for the shortage of nurses, Phillips said."
http://www.lompocrecord.com/articles...ews/news04.txt

Andrew Lopez, RN
http://www.4nursing.com