Prolonged economic downturns and economic crises are affecting nations around the world, including developed countries such as Portugal, Spain, and Greece. In the United States, recovery from the latest economic crisis has been accompanied by a persistently high rate of unemployment. To a large extent, the impacts on the nursing profession may depend on the severity of economic downturns and their duration in the country of employment of nurses. Nurses in certain areas of patient care (such as mental health) may also be more strongly affected because of the impact of economic crises and high unemployment on morbidity patterns. Emigration of nurses may also increase as a result of prolonged economic crisis.
