Why Is It So Hard To Get Into Nursing Programs If There Is A Shortage For Nurses???

Nurses General Nursing

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Why Is It So Hard To Get Into Nursing Programs If There Is A Shortage For Nurses??? Then you have schools that only accept 30 students a semester. It's so frustrating.

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

It's hard to get in because people have heard there is a shortage ... and now there are so many people trying to get in that it has flooded the educational system. There are more people wanting to go to nursing school than there are the resources to teach them.

There is not a shortage of nursing students. There is a shortage of experienced nurses willing to work in the least popular nursing jobs.

There is also a shortage of money needed to pay nursing instructors a decent wage.

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Specializes in Oncology/Haemetology/HIV.

First, there is no nursing shortage. There are at least 500,000 surplus nurses that have left, due to various reasons, many d/t lousy conditions. There are estimated 170, 000 postions, many undesirable, poor paying, part time, w/no benefits, or in places with a high COL.

Second, there are a large number of people seeking nursing degrees.

Third, nursing like medicine can have only a limited number of students per class. The students require a "hands on, supervising instructor"...unlike accounting where you can add a few extra seats with no problem. There are also limited openings d/t number of local hospitals that permit students. You cannot have 50 nursing students in OB rotation, w/only one or two hospitals hosting them. If it is a small area, with fewer birthes, you will have 4-8 students trying to observe one or two birthes...they cannot participate well as weel as it is hard on staff and patients - who wants 4 extra strangers watching you give birth. Plus your school may be "sharing" facilities with several other schools at the same time.

There are liability issues, with insurance of the school and the facility bearing a burden. Nursing students increase the liability of the school and facility.

Colleges rarely pay instructors adequately. They can invariably get paid more for fewer ours and less education, as a practicing nurse. While med schools offer Attendings certain advantages in return for teaching, nursing does not.

Nursing classes are more expensive to run, with labs and dissections involved, rather than pure academic classes. There are only so many cadavers around. And while med school can charge big bucks, nursing school cannot.

And it really should not be any easier to get into nursing school, because of the fictious shortage. There is a shortage of primary care MDs... do you see Johns Hopkins lowering their standards or opening extra postions, while sacrifing quality of instruction (same number of patients for more MDs to learn with)?

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Specializes in ER/ICU, CCL, EP.
First, there is no nursing shortage. There are at least 500,000 surplus nurses that have left, due to various reasons, many d/t lousy conditions. There are estimated 170, 000 postions, many undesirable, poor paying, part time, w/no benefits, or in places with a high COL.

Second, there are a large number of people seeking nursing degrees.

Colleges rarely pay instructors adequately. They can invariably get paid more for fewer ours and less education, as a practicing nurse.

Carol:

You made some good points.

Where are you getting the statistic of 500,000 nurses that are refusing to come back to the hospital because they were treated badly? :) Iwas able to find it on the AFL-CIO website, but nowhere else yet. I can't really consider a Union an unbiased resource.

That being said...I am willing to believe that there are half a million nurses not working as nurses. How many of them are not working because they are in their 60's or older? How many of them married a spouse that could support the family while they stayed home to raise the children? How many decided that they would rather be an accountant because working holidays was not for them?

I think it would be almost impossible to truly survey nurses and find out why they left nursing. The people who are angry at the conditions they are forced to work under as a nurse would send that survey back in about 1 day! The people who decided to become soccer moms might not feel the same way about getting that thing in the mail. :)

We have a nursing FACULTY shortage, we have a NURSES WILLING TO WORK shortage. As far as I can tell, we have never managed to get our 'non-working' nurses back to the profession in droves. It all amounts to the same thing.

Oh, and I think nursing professors should make the seriously big bucks. God Bless them all! :)

SS

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I believe any healthcare program is competitive because you will directly or indirectly be tampering with the lives of patients. The program can't just let anyone in. They want the students that have proven that they can follow direction and retain information. I know I wouldn't want a nurse taking care of me if he/she slipped by with D's in their undergrad work!

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Transplant, Education.
I believe any healthcare program is competitive because you will directly or indirectly be tampering with the lives of patients. The program can't just let anyone in. They want the students that have proven that they can follow direction and retain information. I know I wouldn't want a nurse taking care of me if he/she slipped by with D's in their undergrad work!

On that note, it is impossible to "slip by with D's" once you actually get in to most nursing programs. My college required that you get at least 74 © or higher in all nursing courses (won't even take a 73.999) I have heard of some schools that require 80 or higher. I'd be concerned about any nursing program that doesn't have a minimum grade requirement of at least C (depending on what a C is in your area.) I do agree that programs can't just let anyone in.

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Specializes in Critical Care.
On that note, it is impossible to "slip by with D's" once you actually get in to most nursing programs. My college required that you get at least 74 © or higher in all nursing courses (won't even take a 73.999) I have heard of some schools that require 80 or higher. I'd be concerned about any nursing program that doesn't have a minimum grade requirement of at least C (depending on what a C is in your area.) I do agree that programs can't just let anyone in.

It's hard to slip by with Ds in the prereq classes, too. That's pretty much considered a failing grade in my area, and it certainly won't help your GPA when to be competitive for my program you needed basically a 4.0 in a handful of classes that are weighed heavily and a 3.5+ in the other prereqs.

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Well in NY, people with 3.5 cant get into programs cause they are taking all the 4.0's first. It like your GPA has to be perfect or you will be put on a wait list that may never even call you. The expensive $750 a credit schools are taking students but its like who can afford that.

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Specializes in Hospital Education Coordinator.

another reason is we, the managers, do not want a warm body. We want people who are able to perform. Students are sometimes eliminated during nursing school due to lack of knowledge, skill or attitude - the three things we need the most. Not everyone is cut out for this demanding career.

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It's simple. Shortage of nurses (for whatever reasons) = shortage of nursing instructors. In my program it is one instructor to 8 students and there are still times when you can't do a skill or ask a question because your instructor is busy. Also, clinical instructors (as far as I know) must have a BSN and a lot of new nurses are coming from associate programs. Also, I don't think it is right to just let everyone come because we are short. It was very competitive to get into my program and if I had not got that ethic in before hand I would have never made it thru first semester. That being said- there are still some students that you have no idea how they got accepted and others that should have, it's not always a perfect system.

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On that note, it is impossible to "slip by with D's" once you actually get in to most nursing programs. My college required that you get at least 74 © or higher in all nursing courses (won't even take a 73.999) I have heard of some schools that require 80 or higher. I'd be concerned about any nursing program that doesn't have a minimum grade requirement of at least C (depending on what a C is in your area.) I do agree that programs can't just let anyone in.

That is exactly what I am saying. If we let anyone in, we would not be keeping our standards (74% and higher) up. The programs are competitive because they do not let substandard students (those slipping by with D's!) in.

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If you do well in your prerequisites, it isn't hard to get into nursing school!

However, I do agree that there are limited student positions available due to a deficit in nursing instructors.

I also believe that it may seem so difficult to get in to many students because the standards are so high now. Aside from the many A students that apply, a lot of C students also try to get in as well. Programs can't let just anyone in. As a PP already pointed out, I wouldn't want a grade D nurse taking care of me either (hence the 74%+ requirements)! These programs have standards to uphold to their students and the community that these future nurses will be serving!

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