The essential role of professional nurses in the U.S. healthcare workforce: Challenges, innovation, and opportunities

Abstract

Professional nurses, defined in this paper as licensed registered nurses, are a cornerstone of the U.S. healthcare workforce, serving as frontline caregivers and advocates across diverse settings. This is a narrative synthesis which examines the multifaceted challenges currently facing the nursing profession, including workforce shortages, burnout, and inflexibility in skill distribution, which are issues magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic and other public health crises. We examine how demographic shifts, such as an aging population and retiring nurses, along with rapid technological advancements, particularly in digital health and artificial intelligence, are reshaping nursing roles and responsibilities. The evidence presented highlights the critical importance of industry partnerships in addressing these challenges, emphasizing collaboration between nurses and stakeholders in healthcare technology, pharmaceuticals, and medical device manufacturing to develop tools and resources that align with evolving care needs. Additionally, we discuss opportunities for innovation in nursing education, workforce development, and entrepreneurial endeavors aimed at improving workplace conditions and patient outcomes. By analyzing current workforce composition, educational trends, and pathways for strengthening professional practice, the authors aim to inform policy makers, healthcare leaders, and educators about strategies to enhance the future of nursing and ensure the resilience of the broader healthcare system.

Keywords

Healthcare innovation / Industry partnerships / Nursing education / Nursing practice / Nurse workforce / Workforce shortages

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

None.

AUTHORS CONTRIBUTIONS

All authors designed the outline, performed literature evaluation and contributed to the manuscript writing. All authors have given final approval for the current version to be published.

FUNDING

No funding was received for this narrative synthesis.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST DISCLOSURE

KDB and ESM declare that they have no competing interests. SSB and KCY report a relationship with Becton, Dickinson and Company that includes employment and equity or stocks.

INFORMED CONSENT

The requirement for written informed consent was waived given that this was a narrative synthesis.

ETHICS APPROVAL

The Publication Ethics Committee of the Association for Health Sciences and Education. The journal’s policies adhere to the Core Practices established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

PROVENANCE AND PEER REVIEW

Not commissioned; externally double-blind peer reviewed.

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

All data analyzed in this narrative synthesis are included in this published article.

DATA SHARING STATEMENT

No additional data are available.

OPEN ACCESS

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

COPYRIGHTS

Copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal.

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