2010-2011 AZBN new grad survey

fromtheseaRN, BSN, RN · Nov 18, 2011

thank you for posting this. i was kind of hoping for the complete smart-ass comments that were made in last years.

i wish they would print this and hand it out to people applying for nursing school. i graduate in a few weeks and have been working hard at making connections in any way possible since i started. hopefully it will pay off.

Multicollinearity, BSN, RN · Nov 20, 2011

Nursing schools need to reduce enrollment. Will they? I really doubt it.

boru · Nov 23, 2011

Nursing schools need to reduce enrollment. Will they? I really doubt it.

I totally agree... it will work out in the end but the strategy and they way they are doing it is not the best.

fromthesea: LOL! I remember some of those comments from last year... too funny!

The really sad thing about all of this is that everyone in this situation is suffering. There is still an RN staffing shortage at most facilities (I realize there are some exceptions)... therefore the staff is becoming burned out picking up extra shifts or working under increasingly higher nurse/patient ratios...

We all know that the patients are probably going to suffer with higher ratios and a burned out staff...

and lastly, all the new grads that that worked so hard to get through school and are practically begging for acute care experience are suffering most of all...

fromtheseaRN, BSN, RN · Nov 23, 2011

of course they won't reduce enrollment, they're making so much money off of the false notion that there is tons of work to be had.

in my former career of advertising i did a lot of work with a local hospital and fell in love with nursing in that setting. so i started taking courses. i didn't get into nursing because of the supposed hiring boom/shortage/good pay... i really hadn't done any research in it at all. had i known at the beginning that any of this was going on, i probably would've held off school for awhile. i absolutely love nursing and can't see myself happy in a career outside of healthcare... but i've got a family to support.

AZnurse_2B · Nov 29, 2011

of course they won't reduce enrollment, they're making so much money off of the false notion that there is tons of work to be had.

You actually might be surprised to know that most schools lose money on nursing students. I know that at ASU, for example, the cost of graduating a nursing student is three to four times the cost of in-state tuition. State subsidies and differential tuition cover a portion of the remaining costs but not all of it.

Think about it: nursing education is expensive. Not only do we require a ton of extra supplies, training, and arranged clinicals that a non-nursing major doesn't need, but state regulations on faculty to student ratios mean they can't just throw in 200-300 students in a class to compensate for expenses like they can in other degree programs.

New nursing grads can't find jobs because hospitals can't afford to hire and train them not because there isn't a need for more nurses - ask any employed nurse about this, and you'll see what I mean. As it stands, schools (especially in Arizona) will not be able to meet the demands for replacement nurses in upcoming years since a large portion of our state's nurses are reaching retirement age. I know that's not the current picture for new grads, but it seems to be the direction in which we are headed. The problem is that while the demand for new nursing may increase, the hospitals' ability to hire them may not change proportionally.

fromtheseaRN, BSN, RN · Nov 29, 2011

i should have been more clear, i was referring to the private for-profit nursing schools that have popped up all over the valley in the past few years.

boru · Nov 29, 2011

Hospitals need more nurses but claim they cannot afford to train them... new nurses cannot find acute care experience therefore cannot get an acute care job. The answer to me seems pretty simple:

I have heard statistics the state that every new grad costs a hospital $15k to train over the course of 6 months - 1 year.

Then why don't they just open up extern programs at a reduced pay to offset the cost? The avg new nurse makes around $40-50k the first year ($25/HR x 36Hrs x 52wks = $46k). If hospitals would just offer nurse extern programs and pay the externs $15k less the first year to offset the cost and then bump up their pay after the first year, both problems are solved.

AZnurse_2B · Nov 29, 2011

I think most new grads would be on board with that. It certainly beats not having a job at all.

For-profit schools are a very different case indeed. IMO they are rarely, if ever, a good option for anyone going into nursing. (But that's a topic for another day!)

fromtheseaRN, BSN, RN · Nov 29, 2011

st joes and banner both had externship programs just like this, and they were both cancelled in the last 6 months or so. they said they couldn't afford that, either. silly.

boru · Nov 29, 2011

Agreed, the advantage of paying 50-60k for a private school used to be that you

A) didn't have to wait an extra 2 yrs on the Comm. College list, and

B) you didn't have to compete against other applicants going into a program like ASU, UA, NAU, or even GCU (and take the chance of being possibly passed over a year)

A few years ago, the extra tuition cost of $40k was offset by becoming an RN 1-2 yrs earlier than the Comm. College option. Now with the market being what it is today, I don't feel that the privates are a good option any longer.

AZMOMO2 · Nov 29, 2011

The media needs to stop saying that healthcare jobs are in demand and showing pictures of nurses! so many people are getting into nursing for the "money" because the economy says so and they are still working waitress jobs, retail, etc after graduation.

When the majority of RN postings say, " NO NEW GRADS" and " BSN preferred" The ADN programs really need to adjust their programs. Will they? Nope! Because those are some money making programs! Buyer beware!

With that said, onward and upward toward the almighty BSN, even if I have to take a long way to get there, working in a field that is not my dream.