The rise in nurses’ prospects in the USA was helped by the impact of the economic downturn on job loss in other sectors of the economy and the steady rise in nurses’ incomes to levels comparable to or exceeding comparable occupations like teaching. However, nursing’s popularity will not likely decline as the economy improves since the public is now better informed about the need for sufficient numbers of nurses, as evident by more than half of the 50 states passing some form of legislation or regulation to ensure safe hospital nurse staffing. Also worth mentioning in the context of Israel’s low nurse to doctor ratio, USA national workforce policy has constrained the growth of doctors because of concern about rapidly escalating healthcare expenditures. As a result, opportunities were created for nurses to successfully take on wider scope of practice and leadership in healthcare thus contributing to attractive career pathways for nurses and improved working conditions for all nurses.
Nursing is a profession that has traditionally offered substantial opportunities for social mobility, important for building a strong middle class. Investments in nursing also yield good value in terms of accessible, safe, effective, patient-centered health care, important to citizens in every country. Underinvestment in nursing is not in the public’s interest.