Abstract

Nursing shortages are being reported in several countries worldwide (Buchan 1999; Buerhaus 1998; Lindeman 2000; O'Brien-Pallas and Baumann 2000). The cycles of shortages and surpluses, which have been a source of frustration for nurses in practice, planners, researchers, administrators and funders, are intimately linked with the quality of nurses' work life, the health of nurses and the quality of care they are able to provide. The quality of work life can affect not only the system's ability to recruit and retain nurses, but also overall system costs related to the productive use of available nursing resources.