Can anyone tell me why there is a nurse shortage???

Nurses General Nursing

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I will be a new nursing student in the fall but am wondering why so many people are leaving the nursing profession? :confused: Could some of you help me out here and let me know what is going on. I am really looking forward to a nursing career but wonder what the deal is on why there is such a shortage and why people are predicting more of a shortage in the years to come. Thanks to all!

Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

ALL the opinions are of equal value here; facts are indeed important---- but REAL LIFE FRUSTRATIONS AND EXPERIENCE are too, and to suggest otherwise, is to me, quite arrogant. The original poster asked an earnest question. I see a LOT of earnest and honest answers and issues here that this person will face when he/she becomes a nurse. Really, the demographics are well-known by both nursing and the general public. This is true in many other career fields as well. What often is not as well known, is a lot of what is being described here by real-life nurses who detail what are to them, real-life problems and concerns that seem QUITE valid to them. To discount these opinions as "less important" than "anyone's" facts is a slap in their face, if you ask me!

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Right on.

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MelH, If you wish to read some of the published articles on the shortage, here are two web addresses. There are many others as well.

http://nursingworld.org/ojin/topic14/tpc14_4.htm

http://www.rwjf.org/newsEvents/nursingStrategies.jhtml

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Nobody is denying the factors that you have listed as contributing to the nursing shortage. We are just saying that there are OTHER factors as well and that they shouldn't be dismissed.

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Specializes in Geriatrics/Oncology/Psych/College Health.

With credit to http://www.workjoke.com/projoke36.htm

Top 10 reasons to become a nurse

1. Pays better than fast food, though the hours aren't as good.

2. Fashionable shoes & sexy white uniforms.

3. Needles: It's better to give than to receive.

4. Reassure your patients that all bleeding stops....eventually.

5. Expose yourself to rare, exotic, & exciting new diseases.

6. Interesting aromas.

7. Do enough charting to navigate around the world.

8. Celebrate the holidays with all your friends.....at work.

9. Take comfort that most of your patients survive no matter what you do to them.

10. Courteous & infallible doctors who always leave clear orders in perfectly legible handwriting.

;) - a little levity first...

The reasons for the shortage are twofold - on a macro scale it's demographics/population trends as Acnorn has enumerated. On a micro scale it's the individual experiences of each of us that lead us to recommend or not (consciously or not) nursing as a career, multiplied by our numbers. The first no one can control. The second is primarily in the control of the people at the top. More and more nurses choose to vote with their feet (up to and including leaving the profession entirely) than continue to accept what health care has become in the pursuit of the dollar.

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Very well put. You verbalized that much better than I could have.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

I once had a tshirt with all those things on them, NurseRached. Truly funny. ITA w/your post.

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Griping and complaining can do nothing but positive things. Although the tone seems negative, the outcome is positive as more nurses realize the truth, "plenty of doctors, plenty of patients, plenty administrators, plenty bosses, a shortage in the trenches." When market forces are allowed to run (i.e. high demand for good nurses, very low supply) what is bound to happen is the price will go up if we will keep up the pressure and not be satisfied with less. This is bad for everyone but the nurses, which is O.K. with me. Pay the price or work short handed, exhaust the good nurses you have now, and cause more of a shortage. When pay gets up there equal with the doctors (they can't work without us, we do our job without them) I would say it may be time to stop the unrest. I say keep up the unrest, keep up the complaining, quit offering band aids to the hospitals by working when they are short handed. Work when you want, not when they want you to. Nurses are in the driver's seat, we just need to realize that as a whole and start driving. Hospitals all over the nation are offering huge sign on bonuses. Maybe they are getting the message. Send it out every chance you get. Griping and complaining is good. Passive acceptance is going nowhere fast.

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How many other "professionals" punch a time clock, wear uniforms, work weekends/holidays/off-shifts:( :confused:

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What makes you think nurses are "profesionals"? And, haven't we had this professional/laborer discussion (on this board) before?

Are pharmacists professionals? Are physical therapists? Are OT's?

What is the definition of a professional?

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All the reasons I've ever heard are here. Why now? These thigns tend to be cyclic. But truly something more is going on. There are 10 hospitals in the area where I work (15 mile radius, give or take a bit.) For 25 years, the area was considered to be over-bedded (more hospital beds than they needed.) In the last 18 months, every one of those hospitals has experienced a booming census. Did the whole world get sick at the same time? Did it take people 20 years to notice they were sick? I don't know why this is happening now. No one has even ventured to propose a reason for this phenomenon. One of the places I work is a trauma center. People say, well it's busy there because of the trauma center. Wrong again. Trauma doesn't fill the units to overflowing. Demand is just outstripping resources. Nurses are resources. But, so are RTs, PTs, SWs, dieticians, etc, etc. Schooling is time consuming and minimally 3 years behind need. And if tax payers don't want to pay for healthcare, they really don't want to pay for educating healthcare workers. Seems shortsighted to me. But, that's what I see happening in my little corner of the world.

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1. Baby Boomer are gettin' old and we are breking down by the thousands.

2. Better less invasive procedures push us into getting checked out, only to find we need your services.

Best,

Greg

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