Having to tell people there is no nursing shortage

[esunada]

I am a new grad and its starting to irk many how many times people say: have you found a nursing job yet followed by why haven't you, theres a nursing shortage out there. Other things I've heard is - theres tons of hospitals in the city, you have so many choices. Or you picked a good career to go into, you'll never be without a job, you'll find something good soon. Or my friend got a nursing job with a $10000 bonus back in 200*, there's a demand!

Then I have to explain that 1) we're still in recession and more people are not paying their medical bills and not getting elective surgeries. 2) hospitals laid off a bunch of nurses 3) those nurses that were still there took on more hours 4) nursing schools used a vulnerable time for the masses to lure people into nursing school creating high supply and low demand 5) healthcare is up in the air right now putting healthcare budgets on a balance beam that hopefully will see improvement 6) I have to have someone who can get me a really good in and be able to schmooze nowadays to get a good nursing job as a new grad 7) there is no nursing shortage right now in most areas.

And they still don't get it. I feel embarrased for myself having to explain because clearly i should have a job by now if i had a good head on my shoulders and applied. Whatever.

[2BRN123]

But Leo, you do understand that all your friends with their other majors can re-enter the job market for marketing, or some other non-sustainable major at any time. Nursing is completely different. Remember what we do. We try not to kill people, we .......

Of course that's how it works. Employers want you to be constantly and continuously employed up till the point that they interview you.

My point was that the perceptions that our peers have with regards to finding a career in nursing (and others like JD's PT's Social workers etc) seem to differ greatly from their own career and education choices.

Perhaps the second part of your post is the way the OP and we all could explain things to our peers. It's not like having a business degree where you can get some whatever job that someone will hire you for and the just move on to something else when you find it. There are time limits and specific expectations and you can't settle for less. There's less of a stepping stone for RN's. As a new grad you can be competing for the same positions as someone with 30 years experience, but at the same time you couldn't apply for and get a job as an LPN to pay the bills in the meantime and still be taken seriously down the road.

[PrayeRNurse, ASN, RN]

I am a "new grad" RN and while looking for a job I am working on my BSN. I don't know if that will help get a job only time will tell, I may end up with a PHD before a "New grad" job comes along. It will happen, I will work as a nurse. For those who are looking along with me I advise the time be put to use getting the next level of nursing! Best to all new grads! I have family and friends that just don't understand however it is most important that I understand and belive in me!

[confuzzlement]

I live in an area where hospitals are still wining and dining new grads. My roommate is from California, where there is definitely not a shortage or a lot of jobs for new grads, so she moved here to finish school and get a year of experience before moving back. I know another girl that has done the same. Obviously, that's not an option for everyone, but it definitely illustrates the fact that jobs for new grads are scarce in places. It kind of sucks that a nursing shortage is still being broadcast, but hospitals are very unwilling/unable to hire. Something tells me that in a few years' time jobs for new grads will be very scarce all over the country.

Hopefully you'll find a job soon! Good luck!

[bstullis]

As always, I encourage folks to look to the places that do struggle to retain staff: Specifically, rural hospitals a couple hundred miles from the big-city ones.

That said, they're much easier to get into and can open the door a few years out.

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I wish that were so when I graduated. I applied to many hospitals, including 5+ rural hospitals serving a few hundred (3-5 small towns) with ~50 beds, to serving a few thousand with ~150 beds (numbers serving may be off, the county only had ~5000 people). I couldn't get a job in any of those places. I ended up in Spokane where the economic depression hadn't hit as hard yet, working in a 600+ bed hospital. I was willing to go where I needed to to be able to support my family. Now I have my experience, gaining more in the float pool and will advance my career from here.

I do agree though that the shortage is experience not just numbers, but where do new-grad nurses get experience? (MED/SURGE)

[BrandonLPN, LPN]

I know I've said this before, but why are so many new grads here acting like the only place they can possibly work is in a hospital? We all know hospital employment is slowing down in many (if not most) places and there are SO MANY other places a nurse can work.

Heck, hospitals aren't even the highest payers for new grads.

Maybe nursing schools need to make an effort to offer more clinicals in non-hospital environments? I wonder if the fact that the majority of clinical time is spent in the hospital reinforces the misconception that that is the only place "real" nurses work.

[Dragonnurse1, ASN, RN]

The nursing shortage numbers are a nation-wide total. There are areas where the market is flooded and areas (like mine) where all the hospitals have pages of positions for nurses that need to be filled. Nation-wide there is a nursing shortage provided one is working with a specific nurse to patient ratio. There is no nationally set nurse/patient ratio so some hospitals think a 12+ patient to 1 nurse ratio is acceptable, by using this level of staffing the hospital improves their bottom line. It took 12 years to get a state-wide staffing ratio passed in California (a 5/1 I believe).

Yes the nursing schools are pumping out new graduates but how many nurses are leaving the field? Of my graduate class less than 50% are still in the field and that has been just in the last 19 years. I too precepted new graduates in the ER in which I worked and found that of the 15, 3 went to the critical care units, 1 stayed in the ER and the remaining 11 went to floors. Most but not all of them needed more that the normal 6 weeks of orientation. Many people are going into nursing for the wrong reasons, now it is about the money not the desire to care for others.

When someone asks you about finding a job "because there is a nursing shortage" do not try to explain why, they do not really care, just tell them - I'm working on it but with this economy........ and then change the subject. Sometimes, for reasons that escape me, if the person is employed the statement is designed to make themselves feel better and a little superior to you.

Just one more comment, in my state an RN is an RN, the ASN, ADN and the BSN are all equal. Given the choice of new grads the ASN/ADN is hired first because the university that graduates the ASN/ADN has a higher board passing rate than the university that graduates the BSN's. I considered doing a ASN to MSN program but I hate management and unfortunately for me I developed a severe latex allergy before I could start the ASN to NP program.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

The nursing "shortage" right now is based on "projected" numbers of "baby boomers" leaving the field which we have failed to do because of losing our behinds on our 401K's. The staffing ratios that were supposed to have been passed into law got shelved when the economy crashed and there were more important things to be concerned about in congress. Some of us have husbands that have lost their jobs and have children still at home (late bloomers) that have to go to college. There is no shortage right now in most of the country.

This "shortage" will return but the new estimates are not until 2020. The new graduate now that cannot find work will have already moved on and there will still be vacancies that will need to be filled. It has happened before, although not to this magnitude, and will happen again. Nursing is cyclical that way.

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

I've noticed that over the years, hospital administrators will point to a "nursing shortage" when explaining to unhappy patients why their nurses are running crazed and have a too-heavy patient load. Administration will say they are trying to get more nurses in order to appease the dissatisfied patients/family members, but in reality are NOT looking to hire anyone at all.

It has become obvious to anyone paying attention that the "nursing shortage" perceived by the general public is because they are FED that information erroneously. I've noticed that hospital supervisors love nothing better than to be understaffed on every shift to save the $$ from that "extra" nurse or aide....thereby keeping their budgets down and the nurses feeling like they got screwed again--but wait! Help is coming! Hospital ZZ is going to be hiring more new grads!

Oh, please. They don't, the shifts remain understaffed, and people still think that the answer to this is to push more people through nursing school. Really?

[PrayeRNurse, ASN, RN]

I am working my way up from CNA, LPN, RN, and soon to be BSN. Do you see a difference in those that have been a RN before becoming a BSN over the BSN only? I am good at paperwork, however I am good at the bedside also. I really don't see a shortage where I live. I wish it would happen! I want a job. ( I am taking time off for my BSN)

[PrayeRNurse, ASN, RN]

Hope you find work soon!