Abstract
The nursing shortage is a well-documented phenomenon that has impacted health care settings worldwide. A corresponding magnitudinal cost factor is linked directly to this dilemma, as health care organizations struggle to meet professional nurse staffing, safety, and quality requirements. The acute care hospital setting in South Florida is one of the hardest hit by the bedside nurse shortage. Nurse staffing presents as a cost accounting challenge that demands the application of management control systems by creative, energetic, and financially savvy nursing system administrators. Future-oriented planning is critical if repercussions of a foreseeable progressive worsening of this condition are to be avoided and control of future patient outcomes achieved.