The current shortage of nursing personnel is creating calls to produce more nurses from all entry-level programs with no focus on the varying competencies of nurses from different educational programs. This short-term fix fails to recognize the effect of this role confusion on efforts to recruit to the profession. Moreover, the changing characteristics of the care delivery system is resulting in dramatic changes in the nature of education and may also require a reexamination of the education required for professional nursing practice. These issues are not new, but will require newfound political will to avoid a repeat of previous shortage experiences.
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