CNN article on nurses and job growth

[tnbutterfly - Mary]

CNN Money published several nursing articles this morning regarding the job shortage for new grads based on information they got from allnurses members.

Since the recession, health care has been the single biggest sector for job growth, but that doesn't mean it's easy to get hired.

Registered nurses fresh out of school are coming across thousands of job postings with an impossible requirement: "no new grads."

It's a problem well documented by the nursing industry. About 43% of newly licensed RNs still do not have jobs within 18 months after graduation, according to a survey conducted by the American Society of Registered Nurses.

New grads have taken to posting their frustrations on allnurses.com, a social network for nurses.

FULL ARTICLE: For nursing jobs, new grads need not apply

A slideshow of nurses and their struggles:

1. Where's this so called shortage?
   
2. Nursing jobs post "no new grads"
   
3. If only I could get an in-person interview
   
4. Dear Obama, Please help the nurses!
   
5. Even with experience, I can't find work
   
6. I want to make a difference
   
7. Online applications are rejected instantly
   
8. I can only find part-time work
   
9. We're competing with thousands
   

Thanks for all who took the time to respond. You can make a difference!!!!

The article is the most popular discussion on CNN right now!!

Original thread requesting for help from CNN reporter can be found at:

New Grad Nurses struggling to find jobs - CNN Reporter wants to hear from you

[CareQueen, BSN, RN]

Kind of depressing. I'm applying to an accelerated program now and hoping that volunteering and clinic rotations pay off eventually.

Same here! I'll be moving and starting my ABSN program this August! I am volunteering my butt off in the meantime, praying and hoping for the best upon graduation!

[Leonardo Del Toro, RN]

It's very hard to know what exactly is happening with the nursing job market. Is there a nursing shortage or not? Are hospitals radically and permanently changed as a business model? What will be the future of the nursing profession? What we know is that these changes are cyclical and this is a know fact in nursing. Older nurses will tell you they've seen this before so what we are going through now is nothing new. The only different aspect of this one is it's duration, we are now entering the 5th year on non hiring. The recession is sure a new element in this equation and so is the new corporate for profit management of most chain hospitals in the U.S. The bottom line is money and nurses are the biggest hospitals pay role so they try to use existing nurses and get the most out of them, training new ones is out of question; they don't feel is not their obligation and will not spend the money needed.

However this situation could be reversed in a matter of months. One has to remember that nurses leave the profession all the time, levels of burn out are high and at the moment there are many extra nurses working which normally would not be they are called "the refrigerator nurses". New grads don't mean much for hospitals because there are sufficient trained nurses available to work. If the economy improves significantly there could be a major shift back to a pre 2008 status with a difference: there will be a severe shortage of trained nurses and a significantly higher patient load. If the non hiring goes on for a few more years then you can add the fact that there will be less New Grads as well making the shift even more pronounced.

[RJmanuone]

Well its a global phenomenon... It has far more devastating results in my country... India has one of the worst nurse:people ratio (1:1200) [WHO recommends 1 nurse every 100 population]... with many organized sectors in healthcare quoting many vacancies in healthcare especially for doctors and nurses alike, goverment is unable to hire them due to budget constrains... and the private health care sector looks for only experienced nurses... for the freshers the option is to either work for free or work as trainee without stipend or salary for another 1year or so... meeting the educational loans has become a serious problem for the new nursing grads...

[nursel56]

Just wanted to add the CNN story has generated some "spinoff" stories. Here is one published in Healthcare Finance News.

The nursing shortage myth by David Williams

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

That is the first time I have ever heard someone say robots will replace us!