Anyone Looking for a Job?

PreRN Katie · Apr 25, 2008

i just read this in the ajc, thought it might be of some interest.

http://www.ajc.com/health/content/business/stories/2008/04/23/nurses_0424.html

job fair aims to get health professionals hired

the atlanta journal-constitution

published on: 04/23/08

highlighting a severe national shortage of nurses, dekalb medical plans to hold a career fair thursday for nurses and other health care professionals, vowing that all qualified applicants will get an interview-and possibly hired-for positions starting at $47,000 for new rns to $80,000 for veterans with 15 years experience.

most major hospitals in the atlanta area also are hiring nurses, x-ray technicians, physical therapists and others in licensed positions for good salaries-- despite a stagnant economy that is costing thousands of people in other fields their jobs.

in the business of health care, demand is driving up costs.

wellstar said it had about 300 openings for full time nurses and other health care professionals. northside hospital has run ads recently trying to recruit nurses for its women's center in forsyth. emory healthcare has about 200 openings. piedmont said it is "always" hiring nurses.

kevin bloye, an official of the georgia hospital association, said a recent study showed that nurses who need work can find jobs with little difficulty because the shortage is serious. and many hospitals fill the gap by hiring temporary nurses.

"it affects hospital profitability," he said. "this is a national problem. it's going to be huge in the next few years as the population ages. the boomer generation is closing in on medicare eligibility, and you have an increase in the population in georgia. if we don't take serious steps right now, we are looking for a crisis down the road for hospitals."

dekalb medical spokesman mike tu said applicants for nursing positions should show up between 9 a.m. and noon at the hospital at 2701 north decatur road in decatur, and for other professional positions between noon and 3 p.m.

"people are living longer, and as the baby boomers age, they become greater users of health care," said cathleen wheatley, senior vice president and interim nursing leader at dekalb medical. "and there are fewer boomers in the workforce, more leaving [to retire]."

dekalb has 90 nursing positions available, but also open slots for other health care professionals, she said.

bloye said hospitals face competition not just for picky patients, but from nurses, many of whom are leaving hospitals to join staffs of doctors' offices, clinics in grocery and drug stores and outpatient surgery centers for a better lifestyle or more money.

"there are so many of these things that compete for the nurses," he said. "there also are managed care companies, primary clinics popping up all over and we're not churning enough nurses out of our schools."

bloye said the greatest need for rns in georgia is in critical care. there's only one nurse for every 753 georgians-in the bottom fourth compared to other states, he said.

according to a gha report, about half of health care workers in the u.s. will be 45 or older this year, and about 30 percent of georgia's registered nurses, pharmacists and medical technologists are age 50 or more. hospitals could take a hit, said william custer, director of the center for health services research at georgia state university, because competition is forcing them to pay more for essential personnel.

pay and benefits are competitive. and the rising salaries are another reason health care costs are going up, custer said.

"most of the cost increases resulting from the nursing shortage will be born by consumers," custer said.