Nurse staffing levels and the nursing shortage continue to be top issues for everyone in the health care sector. Hospitals are getting creative to attract and retain nurses, colleges and universities are looking to hire more nurse educators to expand enrollment, and even local school districts are trying to find ways to keep school nurses in place to handle the growing medical needs of today's students.

Earlier this year, the Joint Commission announced new rules that require hospitals to set codes of conduct on inappropriate behavior, as well as plans to deal with disruptions. In some areas, nurses are already taking matters into their own hands and launching anti-complaining campaigns and RN-MD collaborations to improve the working environment and positively impact patient care.

In the policy arena, the presidential election focused attention on health care in the U.S. and the potential for real health care reform in the next administration. In addition, the CMS and private health insurance plans continue to enact policies to limit payments for preventable errors in hospitals, which will highlight the need for improved nurse-patient ratios to ensure care quality and patient safety.