doctors and nurses

A World Health Organization report argues that the global shortage of doctors and nurses is hurting the fight against HIV/AIDS and other serious diseases and leaves the world exposed in the event of an event of a pandemic. The WHO study concludes that the developing world has about 4.5 million fewer doctors and nurses than population trends suggest it needs. The authors argue the shortfall is due to the so-called "brain drain" effect, with medical professionals in many areas migrating to …

While shortages of doctors and nurses in the healthcare system gain a lot of media play, they are by no means the only problem area. The shortage of skilled technologists is a significant issue as well. The San Jose Mercury News examines a program at Kaiser Permanente which trains the health system's lab techs in-house. The Kaiser Permanente School of Health Sciences offers certificates in radiography, nuclear medicine, phlebotomy and several other specialties.

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A new poll out today asks frontline registered nurses for their opinions on patient safety and their own roles in the healthcare system. A majority (72 percent) said they think patient medication safety has increased in their own hospitals over the past five years and most (80 percent) said they think better technology is at least partially responsible. Most also agree that "an environment that supports the examination of errors" and "better communication between doctors and …