The nursing shortage and Catman Cohen: What do these two have to do with each other? The answer is this: The nursing shortage in America has been memorialized by an unlikely hero named Catman Cohen whose song and video, Prayer For America, has struck a raw nerve in this country. The seriousness of the nursing shortage and aging workforce has been recognized by this artist who prefers not to call attention to himself but instead wants Americans to understand and fully appreciate the dire future that awaits this country if the nursing shortage crisis in our health care system is not addressed immediately.

Unfortunately the nursing shortage will be with us for decades to come. How will we Americans deal with it and what will be the repercussions if we do not? Currently, changes are taking place behind the scenes, but will it be enough and will it happen soon enough? Only time will tell. Those who are in a state of denial, thinking that all is well with our health care system, will soon be pushed out of their comfort zone when the full impact of the nursing shortage really hits home.

This country is also in desperate need of nurse educators to train the next generation of nurses who will take care of the next generation of patients. But when a nurse educator makes less than a nurse who works on the floor of a hospital we lose that critical link that creates the continuum of education and care that is so vital to our health care system.

Nurses and nurse educators have known for some time that the nursing shortage would reach the crisis stage. Nurses and nurse educators are trying to come up with creative ways to address this, including a petition to Congress asking that the position of Office of a National Nurse be created. If created, this position would draw the public's attention to the nursing profession, helping to raise awareness as well as the level of professionalism within the field. The benefit of this awareness would hopefully encourage more women and men to become nurses, helping to ease the nursing shortage.

The nursing shortage and Catman Cohen's ability to expose what is wrong with priorities in America is done with surgical precision. He cuts right to the heart of the problem and correctly identifies that this country needs to focus and work on important issues and resources. He gives a poignant and spot-on assessment of the disturbing trend that the ranks of teachers all across this country, but especially the nurse educators in our health care system, are being decimated due to overwhelming and dangerous work conditions, job burnout, and lack of true compensation for the invaluable contribution these heroes make.

With regard to the nursing shortage and Catman Cohen, the message is clear: Priorities in this country need to be changed right now so we can deal with important issues, especially the nursing shortage in this country.