According to a 2016 article in the Wall Street Journal, “After years of relative equilibrium, the job market for nurses is heating up in many markets, driving up wages and sign-on bonuses for the nation’s fifth-largest occupation.” Many nurses who previously delayed their retirement due to the 2008 recession had begun to retire, resulting in a retirement wave that caused nurses to exit the workforce in greater numbers than new nurses were entering. At the same time, demand for nurses had increased due to the additional health care coverage associated with job growth over the previous decade since the recession and the Affordable Care Act.

a. Draw a demand and supply graph illustrating these developments in the market for nurses. 

b. Based on your diagram, forecast what will happen to the equilibrium wage for nurses as a result of the shift(s)? Is this consistent with what we actually observed? 

c. Briefly discuss whether this problem provides enough information to determine whether the equilibrium quantity of nurses increased or decreased.