No Nursing Positions

Topic of thread is Staffs full, nurses struggle for work: Recession hits a once-sure thing

Posters considering nursing need to be aware of the issue that nursing is not recession proof. Before considering a nursing career check out:
a. How many schools of nursing are in your area?
b. Healthcare market saturation --are hospitals consolidating, closing down or are new facilities being built due to rapid growth of communities?
c. If job market saturated desiring only experienced nurses, are you willing to commute to another town or able to move across states to area with openings?
d. How long can you survive without salary upon graduation?

Answers to these questions will help guide your decision to enter nursing program.

Within the next 15 years, 1/2 nursing workforce will be retiring as average age of RN's in 2010 will be 53 yrs....


Exhibit 4. Age Distribution Trend of the RN

http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/healthworkforce...jections/2.htm


I'd plan on being one of those retiring in 2025, but with economy tanking, spouse laid off 5 yrs ago, securing a FT position making 1/3 my salary and now retirement savings 1/2 value since 2008.....I will be continuing work at least part time. Many RN's formerly part time, now working FT or 2 PT positions as family bread winners.

Just like we went through similar downturn job cycles in 1974-75, 1984-85 and mid 90's, this cycle will pass.

"The 22-year-old Newton native will be saddled with more than $100,000 in student loan"
She should of went to Nursing School in Philippines. She would of been around $90,000 ahead of the game.
Could of used that money to buy a house and a car....

Philippines is like the 51st state of USA. Where else can you go and everything is in English, English is the business language, Values and Culture of USA like we had back in the 1950's.

When I see graphs and read the stats about the age of the average nurse, and the number of nurses declining due to retirement- I wonder- are the people who compile these numbers taking into consideration the huge increases in nursing students, nursing school capacities, new nursing programs, and the surge of new graduates?

It doesn't appear that they are. Therefore, the stats could be waaaaay off.

Age

The aging of the RN workforce in the United States has continued. As of 2004, the average age of the total RN population (including those who are retired and not employed in nursing) was estimated to be 46.8 years. This is the highest average age since the inception of the survey, more than 1 year older than the average age estimated in 2000 (45.2 years) and more than 2 years older than the average age estimate in 1996 (44.3 years).
The aging RN workforce reflects fewer young nurses entering the RN population, large cohorts of the RN population moving into their 50s and 60s, and older graduates from initial nursing education programs entering the RN population. In 2004, only 8.0 percent of the RN population was under the age of 30, a decrease from 9.0 percent in 2000 and 25.1 percent in 1980. At the same time, in 2004, 41.1 percent of RNs were 50 years of age or older, a dramatic increase from 33.0 percent in 2000 and 25.1 percent in 1980 (see Appendix A, Table 1). The increase in the number of older nurses who returned to the workforce in response to the higher salaries and reported shortages may have contributed to the trend.

The average age of RNs at graduation from initial nursing education also varied by type of program. Graduates of diploma and associate degree programs in 2000 or later were the same age (31.8 years) and were older than graduates of bachelor’s degree or higher programs (26.3 years) during this time period. In other graduation years, graduates of associate degree programs were older than all other graduates. Across survey years, the age of diploma graduates has steadily been increasing across graduation cohorts. Baccalaureate degree recipients graduating after 1989 were the youngest (see Chart 10). However, the average age at graduation is lower since 2000 among recent graduates of associate degree and bachelor’s degree programs (declining by 1.5 years and 1.2 years respectively, compared to those who graduated during the 1990s (see Appendix A, Table 2).

I certainly hope you are joking, redranger! If not, you are very out-of-touch with the mindset of the American public. I don't know a single 22-year-old Bostonian who would ever even consider moving to a Third World country to attend nursing school. The proliferation of sub-standard nursing schools and subsequent high failure rate for students taking both the NLE and NCLEX speaks volumes about the current problems in nursing education in the Philippines. For you to continue to assert that the PI is "best" in training quality nurses is just plain silly.