As a member of my hospital’s Staffing Effectiveness Committee, I read this article with enthusiasm.

However, it quickly became evident that my experience with the state mandated committee was about par for the course.

However, the demand for people with this type of education is very high.

There is an extreme shortage of nurses across the board in almost every state in our country.

A state law that takes effect next July will make California the first state to enact such legislation.

A serious shortage of registered nurses (RNs) is forcing thousands of U. hospitals to function with skeleton crews, possibly causing hundreds of unnecessary deaths and injuries.

When such resources are threatened or are unavailable, and when nurses are not a part of the process of finding solutions, "they perceive a loss of control over something they value highly---an environment in which they can provide the highest quality care possible" (Clark, Clark, Day, & Shea, 2000, p. Further, they feel disrespected, frustrated, and disillusioned (Breda); lacking needed resources, quality care outcomes decline (Carlson, 2003; Fitzpatrick, 2001; Needleman & Buerhaus, 2003; Sheridan, 2002).

Methods of obtaining nursing continuing education hours and the pros and cons of each: 1.

Professional Journals: Most professional nursing journals offer an article for continuing education credit.

Some offer a partial credit hour or one credit hour to readers who fill out a post test after reading the article and mail it in.

Nationwide, there was a shortage in 2001 of 126,000 full-time RNs, but the shortage will surge to 808,000 by 2020 if something isn't done.

Even more worrisome, many disaster experts say last year's terrorist attacks dramatized the possibility that a chemical, biological or nuclear attack could overwhelm the nation's nursing work force.