Is there really a "nursing shortage" - Page 3

For the past 12+ years, I have been an exhibitor at several national nursing conferences (for OR, critical care, neuro, OB, Black Nurses, Hispanic Nurses, etc.) as well as the national student nurse conference (NSNA). There are still healthcare systems actively recruiting nurses in specific areas (OR nurses with 5+ years experience, experiences neuro ICU nurses, Neonatal NPs, etc). But very few facilities need to travel to recruit new grads. Last year there were under 12 employers that attended the National Student Nurse Association convention in Pittsburgh -- they were vastly outnumbered by the 50+ schools of nursing there. In 2007 at this same conference there were over 150 hospitals actively seeking new grads.

Colleagues in nurse recruitment indicate that they do not need to look for new grads at all. One hospital in DC received over 1300 applications for 40 positions for new grads in 2012; they did not even call any ADN graduates as they had 400+ BSN grads submit applications. Other major academic medical centers which used to travel to recruit reduced the window when they accepted new grad applications (8 hours at one 1000-bed hospital, 2 days for another 900-bed facility).

So yes there is a shortage for RNs with many years of very specialized experience. But it is a very tough market for those with no experience (especially for those from community college and the multitude of for-profit associate degree programs). At a recent meeting of community college nursing faculty in my state, there was a report that up to 35% of ADN grads did not have nursing jobs 12 months after graduation.

Good luck.

There is a nursing shortage of Experienced nurses.

Thanks for that, UVA Grad Nursing. That kind of "boots-on-the-ground" information is vital for all of us in making our career plans.

And depending on where you are, even experienced nurses don't have an easy time finding employment. People with GOBS of experience have found themselves submitting alot of applications and getting few bites.

Only those with the RIGHT experience at the RIGHT time in the RIGHT place will be finding work without too much trouble.

Please don't put much faith in the Department of Labor information - this is based on very simplistic projections that anticipate the "need" for nurses based on population growth.

DOL numbers do not reflect the real world. In fact, hospitals are the largest employer group, and hospital nursing jobs have steadily decreased over the last 5 years and will continue to decrease. This is a result of enormous pressures to cut costs in order to offset the impact of dramatic declines in reimbursement. CA is the only state with mandated nurse-patient ratios. The American Hospital Association is an enormously powerful political lobby - nuff said.

Are you free to move? To say every single hospital is experiencing the same shortage is just not how it works. You have to talk with places where you want to apply and find out how they handle hiring new grads. Also if you are able to move you open yourself up to a ton more options. Like me I graduated with my BSN in 2008 and moved to Wyoming and worked for 3 years and now I moved somewhere else and I got a job quick. The more flexible you are the more likely you are to get a job. Some people only want to work at X hospital on X unit and only X hours. Good luck with that. You need to be able to do med/surg nights. Then you earn your stripes and time and can move onto something else.

Absolutely. I'm just starting my pre-reqs but understand that I may have to move to seek employment. The market will be different next year and the year after. Those experienced nurses will have to hang up the cleats at some time.