Health care delivery has changed dramatically and rapidly. The Board of the American Hospital Association's Society for Healthcare Human Resources believes that the attractiveness of careers in health care, especially hospital care, is markedly different than twenty years ago. "In a single generation, health care has moved from a favored to a less favored employment sector" (AHA, 2001). Significant drivers of this change have been economic constraints resulting from changes in reimbursement for care, rapid advances in clinical technologies and care modalities, and corporatism of health care systems. Hospitals and health systems have been forced to focus on cost control and restructuring of operations to achieve maximum efficiencies. Many cost savings in health care have been realized at the expense of direct caregivers, including downsizing of the professional nursing workforce, restructuring of nursing services, changes in staffing mix, rapid movement of patients to alternative care settings, and decreased support services for patient care. Furthermore, poor collaboration among health care providers hampers efforts to provide quality care in today's health systems. Many nurses describe the current work environment as highly stressful and professionally unfulfilling (Josiah Macy Foundation, 2000). Exacerbating the challenges to the work environment for nursing practice is the nationwide shortage of nurses and other allied health professionals. Key government agencies and professional nursing organizations have reported on issues related to the national nursing workforce. Evidence suggests that, if left unchecked, current shortages of nurses will escalate into a national health care crisis by the year 2010. Multiple factors of demand, supply, and the aging workforce have contributed to the problem of insufficient numbers of nurses available to care for the rising needs of the American public. Although the actual supply of nurses has continued to grow; it has not kept up with the significant increase in demand for nurses.