The RN Jobs Squeeze

This thread will remain closed as deteriorated into bashing of immigrants, foreign nurse recruitment and ethnic groups.


The pendulum has swung several times over my 35+years from periods of surplus (rare) to severe shortage due to burnout, job restructuring and other higher paying careers with less job stress.

In my experience, the nurses with most longevity who are being laid off, many times were the ones not able to adapt to changing workplace environment, lacked computer skills and made minimal effort keep up to date with changes occurring in healthcare or upgrade skills. When trying to balance a unit budget and implement mandatory unit staff reductions, those not able to be utilized the most on a unit would be likely laid off as maximum productivity needed. My "retired" part time staff 65-75 yo out perform some peers 20 yrs younger.

Due to the RECESSION and job cuts in other industries over past 2yrs, experienced nurses resumed careers, went from prn to part time benefited positions or even 2 FT (3 -12 hr shifts) to become primary breadwinners. This occurred at the exact moment, largest # nursing graduates in years occurred. Businesses severely tightened their belts (exception: home care in most cities). I fully expect within the next year positions to again open up for new grads as the staff become exhausted from OT, workload demands and significant others/spouses regain employment.


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