Retraining Displaced Workers As Nurses

[TheCommuter]

When the economy started to slump after the financial meltdown in the U.S. several years ago, masses of displaced workers suddenly began to view nursing as a safe haven.

The nursing profession has been a magnet for many unemployed people heading back to school (Robertson, 2011). During the past few years, people from various backgrounds have been flocking to the healthcare field due to the perception of job security, career mobility, and steady income.

Government money has paid part or all of the bill for those displaced workers to retrain (Schultz, 2010). And now that they have retrained, many are still seeking employment because something unexpected took place as the economy tanked.

Shortages that had been evident for almost a decade were all but wiped out as retired nurses returned to the workforce (Robertson, 2011). Also, nurses who once planned to retire had decided to keep working to replenish retirement accounts that lost money during the recession.

Is retraining displaced workers to become nurses a good idea? Even though this can be answered with a simple 'yes' or 'no,' the question is not as concrete as it may appear. I will start by saying that many displaced workers would surely turn out to be amazing nurses due to their work ethic, life experience, maturity, unique personalities, and eagerness to learn. In addition, it greatly helps the situation if the dislocated worker has a true interest in healthcare and a passion for helping others.

However, a mass effort to retrain unemployed people and track them into one specific career pathway cannot always be beneficial, especially if many of these individuals didn't really have the inclination or personal desire to become nurses in the first place. In fact, too many people who are currently enrolled in nursing programs divulge that they dislike many aspects of nursing, but the idea of a middle-class income at the end of the pipeline was too irresistible to pass up.

Do other professions actively encourage displaced workers to become members of their ranks? There's a dearth of qualified employees in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) professions here in the U.S., but the leaders of these fields are not looking at unemployed people as the quick and easy solution to their labor shortages. This country is badly in need of family practice doctors, but I suspect the American Medical Association would frown upon using dislocated workers to fill more slots in medical school.

The displaced worker who has the desire to become a nurse should follow his or her dream and take the necessary steps. However, the people who are jumping on the nursing bandwagon for the supposed security and 'big bucks' might become sorely disappointed.

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[Anne36, LPN]

chirskelly, I live in Oakland county and the center I went to really did not have money left for nwlb , it had all been allocated and there were no more funds forthcoming. My school still advertised it on their web page long after the money was gone much to my dismay.

[kcmylorn]

I am going to let the WIA help get me out of the nursing shackles. I am one old veteran nurse who wants to wear Ann Taylor suits to work. I am just sorry I didn't do it years ago before nursing tunrned into the disgrace it is today, before the varicous veins, flat feet. bunions and PTSD.

[brandy1017, ASN, RN]

To Kcmylorn, are you working in nursing or IT today? Did you follow thru with the IT training program and if so do you like it? My brother is a computer programmer and makes a six-figure income, but when he tried to show me computers I was totally bored and out of my element. It is not for me!

The problem of older nurses being forced out of their jobs is part of the larger ruthless corporate practices in America to save money at all costs. Its part of the greedy, corporate group think of hospitals today that have joined the bandwagon to cut costs any way they can. Outsource janitorial and cafeteria workers, and since you can't outsource nurses then get rid of the older nurses for new grads at the bottom of the wage scale. But this is happening everywhere in America today, one of the reason there are so many displaced workers going into nursing. Read the book The Disposable American and you can find out you are not alone.

What can we do? First try to work for a unionized hospital where layoffs are based by seniority, not just at the whim of management who can layoff anyone they want, ie older, higher wage or higher healthcare cost employees. There was a nurse on here who spoke of losing her job due to her husbands high medical bills. Without a union, you're just living on a prayer. Playing the game, sucking up, etc is a survival mechanism to keep a job these days in America!

Many of us don't have the luxury of working for a union, esp in the south or west. You just have to save your money and don't put it all into a 403B, instead save the max in a Roth IRA every year, currently $5,000 or $6,000 if over 50. That can be your emergency fund if you lose your job or get sick or injured. Only contribute up to the match in your 403b due to poor investment choices and high hidden fees, then make sure to max out your Roth IRA, Vanguard has the lowest fees in the industry and you can start with $1,000 Vangard Star fund, a diverse index fund of stocks and bonds. Then if you still want to save more money, go back to your 403b. Hopefully, the 403b fees will go down now that they are required to disclose all their fees this summer; first to the employer, and later we should all become aware of just how badly we are being taken by the 403b companies!

To those with debt, the book Deal with your debt, helps guide you in how best to pay down your debt, while maintaining financial flexibility to protect yourself in these times of uncertainty. Make sure you have disability insurance. I read 1 in 4 people become disabled between 45 and 65 so you need to have a back up plan just in case!

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I'm baffled by the posters who criticize those of us who became nurses "for the paycheck".

Believe it or not, but I was not 'called' by some higher power to nursing, either. For me, nursing is merely a means to an end. I became a nurse for the flexible schedule and income, and I deserve to be paid a competitive rate in exchange for the services that I render.

[DoGoodThenGo]

I've read about doctors from foreign countries training to become RN's to come to America because it is apparently very hard to work as a doctor if you were trained in a foreign country. I read about Filipino doctors getting an RN degree in their country to emigrate to America and England. Also there was a program in Florida that trains foreign doctors as nurses to come and work in the hospitals there. I saw this on a news program last year!

While the media and everyone blathers on about a "nursing shortage" there is also one of physicans especially primary care in many areas of the country. However as the medical community has it's act together when it comes to limiting entry into the profession you don't see the country flooded with both domestic and foregin physicans. Nor do you see new medical programs opening up every other month.

Nursing OTOH.......

What the medical community does seem to tolerate are the numbers of foreign students educated at American med schools that later remain to practice as both post grads and full doctors in some urban areas of this country. If it weren't for them the shortage of primary care physicans in many areas would be vastly worse than it tis already.

[brandy1017, ASN, RN]

I think the powers that be medicare, medicaid and the insurance and hospital industry prefer using NP's to primary care doctors as they can do the same thing at half the cost. So there is no real incentive in expanding primary care physician positions. The truth is nursing is not really a profession, it is really a job. So many nurses don't want to admit it is a job and want to pretend its a profession, but in a profession people have independence, control over their work environment and that is not the case for most nurses. It is a job and in this economy a better paying job than a vast majority of jobs and that is why everyone from the govt to social work to private industry keeps expanding nursing schools. If it were really a profession, the profession would limit the number of schools and create barriers to practice to make sure there isn't an oversupply that will cut wages.

[NotFlo]

WIA provided about 1000 for each semester of LPN school for me (three semesters). I paid the balance.

There was a long process for getting the WIA grant. First, I had to apply for every other kind of grant and assistance out there before I could even start the WIA process.

Then I had to be accepted into a specific program and had to create a proposal demonstrating that there was a viable demand for the type of job I was getting trained for. It certainly isn't a nursing-specific program and they don't try to steer you towards nursing or healthcare in any way. It's actually a very good, practical program that can really make a difference in people's lives. I think the work you have to do creating an extensive proposal helps weed out people who aren't really serious about wanting to go to school.

After graduation they also help provide lots of job seeking help and support. They help with your resume, will provide a computer, printer and proper resume paper if you need it, you can email, fax and make copies there, they will give you pre-addressed envelopes, they hold classes regarding job searching and interview skills etc.

[anotherone, BSN, RN]

What you seem to be saying here is that nursing is viewed by the government and others as a job that anyone can do, so that's why it's chosen as one of the go-to careers for job retraining. Those late night commercials for technical schools list HVAC and medical transcriptionist right next to nursing as "YOUR NEW CAREER!!!" confirm that.

The amount of responsibility and the seriousness of what we do as nurses refutes that, but the idea persists.

I think that is the issue with many people. it is a get quick rich scheme that any idiot can do. or so they think........

[kcmylorn]

Brandy- I didn't do the IT certif program -yet. it will cost aprox $3,500. I went to the information session when I was unemployed in 2010 but I had also went on an interview for another temp position. I started to fill out the papers and ended up taking the temp position. I ended up staying at the temp position for 2 years- total out of acute care, a primary care clinic and I totally love the job. it was very little clinical nursing. But, it was temp and it ended. Now I am back to the old unemployment thing again.I have been out of acute care for 2 years, I guess that doesn't make my experience recent in today's hospital's HR terms but I found out _ I don't care, The hospitals can keep their old slave laborpoop fest positions, I am now spoiled. let the CEO's wife do it!! I don't ever want to go back to the acute care bedside again. That is going to be a whole other wrinkle to this "old nurses out" thing- When they kicked us out of the hospitals we are finding life is good and we like it. There's going to be a rude awakenig for these hospitals- The experienced nurses are not coming back. We have seen other areas of nursing that are not clinical and don't involve the twisted mind set of the hospital nursing managment. I'm tired of scrubs- I want to wear Ann Taylor.

I haven't forgot about the IT thing- It just hasn't been affordable. In the next years I will see how it goes and maybe work a non clinical position and partially collect Social Security If I can- I'm not sure, I need to do some more investigating. I just know I have had it- micromanaging and nit picking is not for me.

[subee, MSN, CRNA]

And as long as people see that one can become an RN with an associates degree why should they not assume that anyone could do it (of course they have NO IDEA of the intensity of the work after you're in the program)? We will be lumpted together with other lightly educated pale blue collar jobs.

[subee, MSN, CRNA]

I am a displaced worker (shipping,receiving/warehousing) that benefited from a program to retrain as a nurse. I just passed my state boards for my CNA and am starting the long slog of looking for a position. I deceided to become a nurse after taking care of my wife post stroke (ischemic stroke, hemmorragic stroke, tia's, swallow problems) recovery. It has been ten years during this journey through her recovery that gave me many aquired skills in basic nursing. I was encouraged by visiting nurses and doctors to persue this line of work. On my side, I have asthma (since 6 months of age) and battle high blood pressure. As you can see, I have a general well rounded experience in the medical care field. Tying all these skills together just seemed to be a natural course for me, one I have embraced and am excited to jump into.

No disrespect intended but you're not a nurse and to represent yourself as a nurse in patient-care situations is illegal. Don't jeopardize the work you put in to get your CNA.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

Now I am back to the old unemployment thing again.

This leads me to another comment. . .

Nursing is attracting displaced workers from other fields, and at the same time, has displaced certain older nurses from the profession. It's ironic.