Fox News- Nursing: Recession Proof Career?

This article was posted by hopefullyanrnsoon in the middle of the "Nursing Market Cools" thread.
I thought the article was very interesting, and deserved its' own thread.

Here it is:

"The reason I decided to do it is no matter where we go, no matter what happens economy-wise, this is an occupation I can count on and I can take with me," said Gambill, a mother of three who had been a full-time teacher's aide."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,513032,00.html


Here is the reply I sent to Fox:

Many nurses, myself included, believe that the so-called "nursing shortage" is a myth. Thousands of nurses are unemployed, and unable to find jobs- especially new grads. Thousands are collecting unemployment. We are baffled as to why the media has never caught onto this and continues to perpetuate the myth of a shortage.
The American Nurses' Association supports this belief:

"The ANA maintains that the deterioration in the working conditions for nurses is the primary cause for the staff vacancies being reported by hospitals and nursing facilities - not a systemic nursing shortage. Nurses are opting not to take these nursing jobs because they are not attracted to positions where they will be confronted by mandatory overtime and short staffing...." (1)


With articles like yours encouraging more and more people to come into an already saturated field, the outlook for nurses and nursing will only get worse. Not only will there be fewer jobs for current nurses, but the shortage myth attracts people to the field who are not interested in nursing per se, but only in a "recession proof" career.
The US Dept of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Health Resources Administration(2) reports that there are currenly 500,000 licensed RNs in the US currently not working in nursing, but only 400,000 current job openings. That's a surplus of 100,000 RNs. But- why are they not working in nursing? Poor working conditons, overwork, and being assigned to far more patients than a nurse can safely care for.
Nurses, especially new and male nurses, are leaving nursing faster and in larger numbers than ever before. (3)

The media are always talking to hospital administrators, college professors, and nursing students about the so-called "shortage". They need to be talking to real, experienced working nurses- those of us in the trenches. We are the ones who truly know the score.


(1)ANA's Message to Congress:

<<"ANA believes that the U. S. healthcare industry has failed to maintain a work environment that is conducive to safe, quality nursing practice and that retains experienced U. S. nurses within patient care. ANA supports continuation of the current certification process to apply to all foreign-educated health care workers regardless of their visa or other entry status. ANA opposes efforts to exempt foreign-educated nurses from current H-1B visa program requirements.


The Issues Surrounding Immigration and the Nursing Workforce:

The practice of changing immigration law to facilitate the use of foreign-educated nurses is a short-term solution that serves only the interests of the hospital industry, not the interests of patients, domestic nurses, or foreign-educated nurses.

ANA condemns the practice of recruiting nurses from countries with their own nursing shortage.
http://www.ana.org/gova/federal/legis/107/rnltc.htm



(2) Almost 500,000 licensed registered nurses were not employed as nurses in 2000.*

Data from the Health Resources and Services Administration's (HRSA's) 2000 national sample survey of RNs shows that more than 500,000 licensed nurses (more than 18% of the national nurse workforce) have chosen not to work in nursing. This available labor pool could be drawn back into nursing if they found the employment opportunities attractive enough**


The ANA maintains that the deterioration in the working conditions for nurses is the primary cause for the staff vacancies being reported by hospitals and nursing facilities - not a systemic nursing shortage. Nurses are opting not to take these nursing jobs because they are not attracted to positions where they will be confronted by mandatory overtime and short staffing. **


76.6% (of) Licensed RNs (in The U.S. are) Employed in Nursing***



* Projected Supply, Demand and Shortages of Registered Nurses: 2000-2020 (released on 7/30/03 by the National Center for Health Workforce Analysis, Bureau of Health Professions, Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). The Bureau of Labor Statistics.
**http://www.nursingworld.org/gova/fed...107/ovrtme.htm


***https://www.aacn.org/aacn/practice.n...6?OpenDocument

(3) The Washington Post
Recent graduates of the nation's nursing schools are leaving the profession more quickly than their predecessors, with male nurses bolting at almost twice the rate of their female counterparts, according to a recent study.
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-405467.html

It's interesting and it feels good to see and hear so much concern from the nurses on here from around the world; mainly the US. However, the reality is we still have a silent voice. If we all put these words INTO ACTION; making phone calls, joining the ANA, getting politically involved, WE COULD MAKE THE NECESSARY CHANGE WE NEED IN ORDER TO BE HAPPY WITH OUR JOBS AND DO RIGHT FOR OUR PATIENTS AND CHANGE NURSING AS A WHOLE. But, we don't. We sit at our desks and type about it, and complain about it. Take a look at what others in our history have done in order to make change or to succeed and get somewhere.

IMHO, I personally think nurses as a whole need to unite on ONE forefront, JOIN the ANA (b/c there's proof that the MORE members an organization has, the more POWER they have; look at the AMA for example) and make the change they want to see, stop ******** about it and become a part of what you want to see.

Be the change you wish to see

That's all...