Are there too many RN's in OKC?

elkpark · Jul 11, 2014

At present, there are "too many" RNs in most US cities, and the schools are cranking out waves of new graduates every year. The economic collapse hit healthcare, too, and the employment situation, while not as bad as in a lot of other industries/occupations, is bad in nursing.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Jul 16, 2014

The OKC area has had a glut of nurses for several years. Look at all of the schools with nursing programs that pump out new grads into the local job market. There's OU, OSU, OCU, OCCC, Rose State, OBU, Southern Nazarene, UCO, Platt, Langston, and other schools I have not named.

In addition, any major metro area that routinely pays new grad RNs a starting wage of less than $20 per hour is most likely glutted with too many nurses.

jetfan · Jul 28, 2014

Unfortunately, yes. Like others have said, it's not unique to just Oklahoma though.

L&DHopefully · Jul 31, 2014

I'm so confused about this. I mean, I completely understand what everyone is saying about the abundance of nursing schools here in OK pumping out students every semester, but where I am confused is knowing the fact that I know several nurses in OK and they are ALL CONSTANTLY being begged to come in for as much as 4X overtime pay because they are so short staffed. Can somebody please explain this to me?

elkpark · Jul 31, 2014

I'm so confused about this. I mean, I completely understand what everyone is saying about the abundance of nursing schools here in OK pumping out students every semester, but where I am confused is knowing the fact that I know several nurses in OK and they are ALL CONSTANTLY being begged to come in for as much as 4X overtime pay because they are so short staffed. Can somebody please explain this to me?

Simple -- the hospitals/employers are choosing to keep staffing low, because it saves them money. It's not a question of how many RNs are needed to meet the public's needs for healthcare; it's a question of how many RNs employers are willing to employ. Healthcare employers were affected by the economic crash; not as badly as a lot of sectors, but definitely affected, and, between that and concern about what the implementation of the ACA may mean (which no one really knows yet), they are feeling panicky and making an effort to avoid taking on extra staff. Everyone is trying to "do more with less." That means not hiring more nurses and bugging your existing nursing staff to work lots of overtime.

L&DHopefully · Jul 31, 2014

Thanks for explaining!

elkpark · Jul 31, 2014

Be cautious about all those news and opinion pieces that carry on about how statistics indicate the US will need X,000,000 more RNs by the year 20XX. It won't really matter how many nurses will be needed; what matters is how many nurses healthcare employers will be willing to hire, and the entire sector has been undergoing a huge shift in productivity in recent years and shrinking permanent staff. Now that the employers have gotten used to having smaller, more productive staffs, I don't expect them to just decide to go back to the old, more generous staffing patterns and employment practices.

rxis · Oct 6, 2014

Incentive overtime pay is not constant. It comes and goes depending on factors at the executive/corporate level. Working at a facility like that comes with a price that the workers have to pay.

mommy2anangel · Mar 16, 2015

Just because OKC has a lot of nurses does not mean all of Oklahoma does. If you are willing to move a job can be found. Several of the hospital systems in Tulsa are hiring. Just look at their websites. Same with Eastar in Muskogee. There are two hospitals in Tahlequah, one in Wagoner and another one in McAlester. These are just a few I can think of in Eastern Oklahoma.