Though the number of nurses employed in the United States has risen ov

Though the number of nurses employed in the United States has risen over the last ten years, 15 percent of nursing positions in hospitals are vacant today. The situation will worsen unless hospitals improve working conditions and nursing schools attract students who have not traditionally been drawn to the profession. More scholarships and loans may make nursing education more affordable, and alternative routes to nursing may prompt adults interested in nursing to go back to studying in an undergraduate program.

Which of the following can be logically inferred from the paragraph above?

A) Nursing school recruitments are now at their lowest level in a decade.
B) In the past ten years, the number of practicing hospital nurses has fallen.
C) Financial considerations are the principal reason for the current nursing shortage.
D) Increasing the number of scholarships and loans will not by itself improve the hospitals' situation.
E) Working conditions in hospitals have become significantly worse in the last decade.