Is the nursing profession causing its own RN shortage?

mdfog10 · Nov 2, 2015

There is no Nursing shortage, but a shortage of RNs willing to work in hospitals that treat us as disposable units of labor costs. I am seeing nurses burn out very early. We need to be United to work to improve working conditions in our hospitals. Lift teams, lift equipment, Nurse to patient ratios, workplace violence plans and prevention, etc, etc

OCNRN63, RN · Nov 2, 2015

There is no shortage of RNs; just a shortage of hospitals willing to hire RNs to staff their units appropriately.

RNperdiem, RN · Nov 2, 2015

My unit is a stepping stone for a lot of people headed to anesthesia school, so there is that turnover. NP school too. I wouldn't say there is a shortage. People transfer from other departments, the occasional new grad get a job, and people from outside get hired.

Rocknurse, MSN, APRN, NP · Nov 2, 2015

There is no shortage of RNs; just a shortage of hospitals willing to hire RNs to staff their units appropriately.

I would agree with this. I know lots of nurses looking for jobs but hospitals are either in a hiring freeze or they won't hire experienced nurses because they're too expensive. There's no nursing shortage, that's for sure. They're literally pouring out of nursing school and as soon as they do, there's a line around the block to get in.

LDAthleteNurse, BSN, RN · Nov 2, 2015

From what I gathered, There is a shortage of EXPERIENCED RNs. At least in texas there is, AEB sign-on bonuses of $10,000 to applicants with at least 2 or more years of experience. It's a little difficult for new grads to find preferred work unless they go through a new graduate residency.

RNDave · Nov 2, 2015

I guess my point is that too many seem to see being an RN as a bridge to a better career and not an end in itself.

KatieMI, BSN, MSN, RN · Nov 2, 2015

When you're running 12 hours straight like a chicken with its head cut off, being responsible for everything and everyone and punching bag for anyone, without your voice ever heard and your opinion never accounted for, working every holiday and most weekends, and see your former colleagues comfortably sipping coffee while writing charts and putting orders 8 to 5 weekdays only, you will likely think about getting the heck outta there and back to school.

Not the prime motivation for me, but making bedside nurses' work intolerable definitely push quite a few of them back to school. Some of them I know pretty much do not care about what degree they are going to get and what they are going to do with them as long as 1) they will lead to potential jobs out of bedside and 2) there is no more hard science courses given hard way.

BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN · Nov 2, 2015

What nursing shortage are you talking about?

With all the RN's going to NP school, is the profession significantly contributing to the RN shortage? Between retirement and RN's in line to become NP's it seems our unit is on a constant hunt for staff.

KatieMI, BSN, MSN, RN · Nov 2, 2015

I guess my point is that too many seem to see being an RN as a bridge to a better career and not an end in itself.

Spending just a year or so in college and then pushing drug cart around for 35 years may be a good life for someone but it is definitely not an example of good career.

If an ADN programs demand GPA of 3.9 and BSN requires college level statistics and a couple of chemistry courses, they create entrance in the system for very smart, ambicious and relatively young people. Such people will not be satisfied with pushing drug carts and wiping butts even for a year, leaving alone enjoying role of a mix between handmaiden and punchbag. They will search for and exit and they will consider that proverbial stint in med/surg or LTC only as s a necessary evil before getting out.

There is no easy solution for this, although making bedside nursing more tolerable, respected and well-paid will probably keep some nurses there. Split education (i.e. creating intense pathway with early and loaded specialization for those oriented on advanced academia/clinical/leadership roles from the beginning) may work for some too.

Farawyn · Nov 2, 2015

Spending just a year or so in college and then pushing drug cart around for 35 years may be a good life for someone but it is definitely not an example of good career.
If an ADN programs demand GPA of 3.9 and BSN requires college level statistics and a couple of chemistry courses, they create entrance in the system for very smart, ambicious and relatively young people. Such people will not be satisfied with pushing drug carts and wiping butts even for a year, leaving alone enjoying role of a mix between handmaiden and punchbag. They will search for and exit and they will consider that proverbial stint in med/surg or LTC only as s a necessary evil before getting out.
There is no easy solution for this, although making bedside nursing more tolerable, respected and well-paid will probably keep some nurses there. Split education (i.e. creating intense pathway with early and loaded specialization for those oriented on advanced academia/clinical/leadership roles from the beginning) may work for some too.

So, bedside nurses are non ambitious (not "ambicious" - don't know what that means) med cart pushers, handmaidens (sexist) and "punchbags"?

Hmmm.

calivianya, BSN, RN · Nov 2, 2015

So, bedside nurses are non ambitious (not "ambicious" - don't know what that means) med cart pushers, handmaidens (sexist) and "punchbags"?
Hmmm.

I see both what she was getting at and what you're saying. There are plenty of jobs in nursing that aren't like that as far as the handmaidens and punching bags part goes - but frequently, the places most interested in hiring new grads - med/surg and LTC, especially the short staffed ones in undesirable areas - are exactly like that. All the cool places where nurses get more respect often like for their applicants to have previous experience, and someone who expected to be treated better right out of school might just give up on nursing altogether before finally getting to a good job.

There is a societal perception that being ambitious and being caring are mutually exclusive traits. Sometimes it's true and sometimes it's not. The real overachievers who enjoy being "better" or "smarter" than other people might just have trouble with the touchy-feely aspects of nursing, and a heck of a lot of trouble with being talked down to by anyone. I have only worked one place that I was not treated with suspicion as a new hire to that unit until I "earned" my coworkers' and my physician colleagues' trust. I think that sort of automatic mistrust can be pretty hard to swallow when you're used to being the top of your class and respected by everyone, which is the kind of student nursing schools are looking for.