Ohio hospital nursing shortage appears to be lessening

After several years of nursing shortages, new data shows that the vacancy rate for hospital nurses in Ohio continues to decrease (“Hospitals have lowest job openings for nurses in years,” Hamilton Journal-News, Jan. 26, 2012).

According to the Ohio Hospital Association, the statewide vacancy rate for nurses was 4 percent in 2010, the most recent year for which data is available. That compates to 6.2 percent in 2009 and double-digit rates in the preceeding years, according to OHA officials.