Is the "system" failing its New Grads???

Sam J. · Jan 30, 2014

Interesting. I never heard before that new grads were more unprepared than in the past. I would have thought the opposite, what with improved technology, and more people going for advanced degrees (such as BSN over ADN), and other things. Then again, so many people have flooded nursing schools that the sheer number of students might have a watering down effect on the quality of nursing education, overall. It also seems more common to hear about graduates failing NCLEX, and many not just one time but several.

Editorial Team / Admin · Jan 30, 2014

Interesting. I never heard before that new grads were more unprepared than in the past. I would have thought the opposite, what with improved technology, and more people going for advanced degrees (such as BSN over ADN), and other things. Then again, so many people have flooded nursing schools that the sheer number of students might have a watering down effect on the quality of nursing education, overall. It also seems more common to hear about graduates failing NCLEX, and many not just one time but several.

Many nursing schools aren't teaching students how to be nurses; they are teaching them how to pass NCLEX. Clinical sites are also hard to come by with the sheer number of schools and students competing for slots. That is where the watering down of education is coming from. While I do believe there is value in the theory side of nursing, many students are getting the absolute minimum as far as clinical hours, and they are also restricted in what skills they may perform by the clinical sites. With such little time and so many restrictions, there is no way they can hit the ground walking, much less running, when they take that first nursing position.

Concerto_in_C, BSN, RN · Jan 30, 2014

Just FYI the travel RN system has been mostly wiped out by the recession-I understand the size of the industry has shrunk by 50% which is a massive collapse. Also, the organizations I've worked for in the last 6 years got rid of their agency nurses too. If there are staff shortages, they just telephone the hell out of the staff nurses who happen to be off that day, asking them to work extra. If all fails, the nurses who came to work are stuck with extra patients. Also, the nursing home I used to work for was even talking about getting rid of registry RNs, probably because they were getting paid $3/hr more. I think this is pathetic considering how expensive health insurance is. Registry RNs are still saving them a fortune even if their hourly pay is somewhat higher.

Employers are now finding easier than ever to find full time staff nurses. I don't know what the future of trevel nursing is, but it doesn't look good.

Barbara H. · Jan 30, 2014

Just FYI the travel RN system has been mostly wiped out by the recession-I understand the size of the industry has shrunk by 50% which is a massive collapse. Also, the organizations I've worked for in the last 6 years got rid of their agency nurses too. If there are staff shortages, they just telephone the hell out of the staff nurses who happen to be off that day, asking them to work extra. If all fails, the nurses who came to work are stuck with extra patients. Also, the nursing home I used to work for was even talking about getting rid of registry RNs, probably because they were getting paid $3/hr more. I think this is pathetic considering how expensive health insurance is. Registry RNs are still saving them a fortune even if their hourly pay is somewhat higher.
Employers are now finding easier than ever to find full time staff nurses. I don't know what the future of trevel nursing is, but it doesn't look good.

I don't know much about the past travel opportunities other than the pay seemed to be way better. I participate in a FB travel community and from what I see there is still demand especially for specialized positions.

The reason why I started this thread is that I am a new grad myself and see on a daily basis the insane amount of travel jobs being offered here in AZ, especially now in the winter. I know that most of my class mates left the state and I might not be far behind at this point. I just find it sad that the hospitals here don't put more emphasis on training and sustaining new grads to avoid their desperate need for all these travel nurses during this season. From what I hear 80-100/hr is what they pay the travel agencies, a staff nurse makes way less.

Concerto_in_C, BSN, RN · Jan 31, 2014

I don't know much about the past travel opportunities other than the pay seemed to be way better. I participate in a FB travel community and from what I see there is still demand especially for specialized positions.
The reason why I started this thread is that I am a new grad myself and see on a daily basis the insane amount of travel jobs being offered here in AZ, especially now in the winter. I know that most of my class mates left the state and I might not be far behind at this point. I just find it sad that the hospitals here don't put more emphasis on training and sustaining new grads to avoid their desperate need for all these travel nurses during this season. From what I hear 80-100/hr is what they pay the travel agencies, a staff nurse makes way less.

Hospitals have so much turnover in ortho and me-surg units (nurses hated those units and consider them "boring") and other low-to-medium acuity units, there is so much shortage for nurses for those basic units, the only explanation I can think of is nurse aides/CNAs have cornered this slice of the job market. In a big city like Chicago or NYC everybody at the hospital, from the teenagers who work as aides, to the old dude who mops the floors, everybody is in a nursing program graduating next year. Hell, even the toilet attendant who hands you towels in the toilet is probably in a nursing program too!!! Those people make prior arrangements with managers to get priority consideration for positions as they become available. Outsiders are effectively blocked by competition from insiders. Once you get inside the organization you are amazed how many jobs are available that nobody applies for, not even a homeless dog with a broken leg.

I think this blocking of outsiders from fair competition for jobs is in the spirit of the nation-wide trend of isolating long-term unemployed, across all industries, not just healthcare. Even the president said in the State of the Union he's aware of this alarming trend.

So this is a strange job market that is short of help but also acting like it doesn't want to hire help.

Concerto_in_C, BSN, RN · Feb 1, 2014

From what I hear 80-100/hr is what they pay the travel agencies, a staff nurse makes way less.

I heard this figure before: $100/hr. By the way, most of it goes into the pocket of the guy who is running the travel company. He writes you a check that's tiny in comparison to his cash flow. Otherwise he's a fool. You are a draft horse, somebody else pockets most of your earnings. That's how it works in travel nursing, car sales, everything in the economy.

My biggest concern with travel nursing is not the cash though, but something else. In this kind of economy, if an organization cannot sustain a full-time cadre of staff nurses (when nurses are competing feverishly for every opening) then the organization is probably run by lunatics and must have horrible working conditions. Other explanations don't seem rational or plausible.

I would say a majority of the great nurses I work with or have worked with in the past, and almost all successful nurses I know who really rose in this profession, picked long term stability. They established a relationship with a company that was stable and respectable. The entrepreneurial-minded ones created their own companies, specializing in things like PICC line insertions and IV infusions, and they made small fortunes, but working for themselves, not some travel agency.

In my conversations with nurses, travel nursing opportunities seem to be six month wonders that don't last, but I'm looking forward to hearing success stories from everybody, regardless of what they do.

At any rate, I wish you the best!!

elkpark · Feb 3, 2014

My biggest concern with travel nursing is not the cash though, but something else. In this kind of economy, if an organization cannot sustain a full-time cadre of staff nurses (when nurses are competing feverishly for every opening) then the organization is probably run by lunatics and must have horrible working conditions. Other explanations don't seem rational or plausible.

Actually, there is a perfectly reasonable and plausible explanation for some facilities; there are areas of the US that are vacation areas that see huge increases in population, and hospital usage, for only part of the year. In those areas, it absolutely makes more sense, and is more cost-effective, to use travel nurses for the several months of high demand than it does to maintain a permanent, year-round staff at the level needed just for the high-demand season.

Concerto_in_C, BSN, RN · Feb 3, 2014

Actually, there is a perfectly reasonable and plausible explanation for some facilities; there are areas of the US that are vacation areas that see huge increases in population, and hospital usage, for only part of the year. In those areas, it absolutely makes more sense, and is more cost-effective, to use travel nurses for the several months of high demand than it does to maintain a permanent, year-round staff at the level needed just for the high-demand season.

If that is the case then I agree it would make sense.

NurseRies, BSN, RN · Feb 3, 2014

2/4 of my travel assignments were destination hot spots in the busy season. One was because 3 nurses took family leave at the same time, and one was due to high turnover. But they need travel nurses for specialties because you cannot simply cross train someone in OR/ L&D, cath lab, or dialysis in a few weeks. Those specialties take months to train, and they may need someone in there ASAP that knows the field. Many travelers are fill ins while they get new people trained.

I don't believe we had a shortage of nurses, but we have a shortage of specialized nurses, and a shortage of loyalty. We need to be treated better if they expect nurses to stay. I always wondered why companies are more willing to train unlimited staff who almost immediately quit time and time again, but they aren't willing to pay their current staff more in order to retain good employees. The cost is way higher for training....

Ruby Vee, BSN · Feb 3, 2014

I don't know much about the past travel opportunities other than the pay seemed to be way better. I participate in a FB travel community and from what I see there is still demand especially for specialized positions.
The reason why I started this thread is that I am a new grad myself and see on a daily basis the insane amount of travel jobs being offered here in AZ, especially now in the winter. I know that most of my class mates left the state and I might not be far behind at this point. I just find it sad that the hospitals here don't put more emphasis on training and sustaining new grads to avoid their desperate need for all these travel nurses during this season. From what I hear 80-100/hr is what they pay the travel agencies, a staff nurse makes way less.

If hospitals aren't putting emphasis on training new grads, it's because sustaining them has proved impossible. New grads seem to start their jobs these days with the attitude that they're only going to be there for a year at best, or until something better opens up. When new grads start their jobs with no sense of loyalty to the employer and no intention of staying, it's not the hospital's fault when they don't stay. (And before anyone jumps on me, we've had multiple threads on that subject, with new grads scathingly stating that they owe their employers nothing and that they'll do what they want to do and it's no one else's business.) What you're seeing is the result of that mindset which leads to job hopping among new grads and the hospitals' reluctance to hire them.

Travelers are expensive, yes, but they're cheaper than a never-ending hamster wheel of training new grads just to see them leave within a year and having to hire and train more new grads . . . . And travelers will often STAY if they like what they see when they work somewhere for a while. My unit has had very few travelers who haven't stayed on and become permanent staff. They like what they see. New grads, however, rarely stay long enough to become competent, much less to pay the unit back for the time and money spent training them.