The Illinois healthcare system may face a major nurse shortage within the next five years.
A survey from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation reported one-third of registered nurses over the age of 55 have plans to retire within five years, and there will not be enough RNs to replenish this loss, according to Crain's Chicago Business.
Shortages will especially hit psychiatric, school, home health and community nursing specialties. Nurses who work in nursing education are also concentrated in the older age group of RN respondents, ages 55 and older, meaning the state could also face a nursing education shortage, according to the report.
Roughly a third of the Illinois RN population, nearly 53,000 RNs, completed the survey last spring. About 40 percent of respondents were 55 years old or older.
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