Wisconsin Nurses - Planning for the Future

The Wisconsin State government have been taking the nurse shortage rather seriously and started a statewide survey of over 77,000 nurses.

The early results of this survey shows that only half of the nurses in Wisconsin are working in hospitals as the other half workin in clinics or community health centers.

The study found that the State of Wisconsin is mostly made up of nurses over the age of 45 which is something to worry about in the near future as when these nurses begin to retire, it will create a large nurse shortage unless the age difference in nurses can be equalized.

This information will be used by the state government to see about create and improving nursing programs as well as improving the nursing conditions to keep current nurses from leaving their profession.

Language Skills as Marketing Tool for Yourself

There is curently a nurse shortage in Japan according to an article by the Seattle Time where Naoto Kan who is going to be stepping as Japan's Prime Minister shortly has had many meetings with advisors to deal with the issue of "beefing up the nursing industry as Japan's population continues to age".



This is another example of how the nursing shortage crisis is not just limited to a few countries(like the U.S) but also becoming a global issue.

American registered nurses and nursing students should consider learning another language to become more marketable.



When I am reffering to learning another language, I'm not just talking about just taking a few Berlitz classes so you can communicate but taking advance courses that specifically deal with medical terms. Having this skill under your belt, a registered nurse could acquire a job in another country that pays more compettive salary or can ask for more money when she applies to a hospital.


If you plan on working in the United States, Spanish is a great language to know due to the large amount of migrant workers in certain parts of the country. Spanish, however, should not be considered the only option since in larger cities, they are many communities of immigrants like Chinese where many people have not yet learned the language.


It all depends on where you plan on living. For example, if you want to live in California, then learning Mandarin Chinese, Vietnamese or Spanish would be a good choice. If you intend to live in Arizona or Texas, then Spanish would be the language of choice.

Another advantage of being a bilingual registered nurse is that it will give you that extra edge when applying for a nursing position as an employer would rather hire a bilingual nurse then one who is not.