Shortages in nursing tend to cycle. Right now, nursing appears attractive to a number of people who would not have considered it a few years ago (better pay and benefits, plus the economy hasn't been great). So, it may ease up a bit for a while, but there are a number of nurses who are older than 45, and we are thinking about retirement. We want to slow down, so there are a number of jobs that we wouldn't even consider because the pace iand the stress is too high. We have the knowledge and the experience to do many of these jobs, but we're not looking for them (and wouldn't accept them, if offered). And some career-changers will quit nursing once they get past the "honeymoon" and realize what they got themselves into.

I think that the nurse shortage is a reflection of the shortage of teachers. There are nursing schools with only 50 openings and 200 students applying. It's all just a domino effect.