What should be done to alleviate the U. S. nursing shortage?

I personally do not believe there is a shortage of nurses in the US. If hospital leadership were more respectful and supportive of our profession, many nurses would return to the bedside. I for one did not enter nursing to be the "whole show", aka primary nursing. I expected ancillary support from nurse aides, unit secretaries and the like. Hospitals just don't get it: nurses want time to take care of their patients, not answer the phones and perform tasks that do not require our college education/skill set to perform.

Thank you all for your answers. It was impossible for me to choose a best answer, because I like them all. I will leave it to a vote then to decide.
I have chosen to leave the bedside for the time being, until conditions improve. It's been 10 years, and I dont want to completely leave nursing. I have chosen another field outside the hospital and I love it. That is the beauty of nursing, we still have choices, and I say NO to the current hospital culture.

It's not just the money, it's the culture/environment of nursing. We need to stop eating our young. If we are to really care for our patients, we need to learn to care for ourselves and each other. If we want to be treated professionally, then we must act professionally. No more backstabbing and sniping at each other, then we can stand together against the doctors and administrations. Not all doctors are disrespectful, but it depends on the culture of the particular facility. I've left the professsion for the time being, because I am not allowed to be the nurse I'm supposed to be here. I'm expected to follow orders, control costs, and not step out of line. Real nursing is stepping up to the plate and being a strong patient advocate, even if it means bucking the powers-that-be. Also, nurses need legal protection from violent patients. Doctors can refuse to care for a patient if they are abusive - why can't we? How many nurses end up in the ER because a patient assaulted them? Most of us just want to be good nurses and take care of our patients to the very best of our abilities, and we just can't do that anymore. I've come home crying because I couldn't do enough for my patients. The culture is no longer "patient care", it's now about "customer satisfaction poll results" and "cost containments".

more money
better nurse:patient ratios
better benefits
respect from doctors and administrators
support from managers with difficult patients

Train more nurses, make the profession more attractive, by eliminating some of the chores you complain about, and pay them more.

I am Australian and am a registered nurse/midwife. The problem seems to be the same across the globe. Apparently there is a worldwide shortage of nurses. I agree with you wholeheartedly, nursing is a caring profession and these days we are busy with other things that we have run out of time to do what is important. I also think that there is a lot of horizontal violence in nursing which makes it a very hard profession to work in. I guess I am a bit relieved to hear that I am not the only one feeling disillusioned with a profession that I have put many years of hard work a training into. All the best to you.

If there is a nursing shortage demand would be high and nurses would command large enough salaries to attract people to train. I think a lot of people try for the nursing programs and don't make the cut, for one reason, or another. Nurses by tradition, I guess, are seen in unglorified terms and most people associate nurses with the unpleasant side of medicine, giving shots, etc.

I was a nuse in australia before i retired.
Unfortunatley medical care is so expensive now day that the nurses are stretched to their limits.
WE could all write senarios for a perfect health care system but the reality of it is no medical people igovern our countires.They havent got a clue what its like to to take care of terminally ill patients until their mum or dad dies they really dont have any idea of the anguish that patients go through.
I know the american system is different to the aussie one.
we have ward clerks to take care of the paper work.
BUt in saying that the nurses alawys take a patient history when they are admitted.
I feel for you I reallydo

Shortage and over work of nurses in the absence of related advantages in pay and perks is universal.It`s a classical case of gender bias.Even fresh house officers learn a lot from trained nurses but don`t respect them enough in return. A small clinic can be run by two doctors and dozen nurses ,not by two nurses and dozen doctors.

Yes I know your problem because a great number of nurses trained in Canada go south because of the benefits and pay given. So you see things are probably worse here. Nurses need to be paid better and work fewer hours. Incentives should be given to train them thereby producing more nurses every year. I was trained as a teacher years ago, the cost of my first year tuition, $50.00 . Now the same tuition is over the wall. Get nurses trained, have a tuition that gets them into universities or community colleges and guarantees them employment once they graduate and you no longer have a nursing shortage. Over work them, under pay them, disrespect them and you have what you have now. Make the profession like it was 30 years ago and nurses will return and others will be graduating across the nation.

I've done a lot of other things before I became a nurse and honestly I don't see any difference between the on-the-job hassles and BS here vs. any other workplace. I don't mind having primary care for pts if it means better ratios (but then our ratios are good in California) and I don't mind answering the phone, clearing trays or providing personal care if it needs to be done.