Green, Kenneth C. 'Who Wants to be a Nurse?' AMERICAN DEMOGRAPHICS, 10, n1 Jan, 1988.

The labor supply of nurses is declining now that more career opportunities are available for women. In 1986, the number of women among college freshmen who aspired to be doctors was greater than the number of women of who aspired to be nurses. Between 1974 and 1986, the number of university freshmen who wanted to be nurses dropped by 75 percent. An annual survey by the University of California at Los Angeles' Cooperative Institutional Research Program and the American Council on Education reports a declining interest among women in jobs that have traditionally been considered 'women's work' such as nursing, teaching and social work. Among the women who do aspire to be nurses, 75 percent are the children of nurses, 17 percent are black and 3 percent are Asian, and SAT scores are lower than average. If the nursing shortage is to be solved, the salaries and conditions must improve, and efforts must be made to attract more men to the profession.