Did anyone else read the Woman's Day article?

SmilingBluEyes · Sep 25, 2003

This is well-known in the nursing community. The public may still be unaware....

it's true.

there is NO shortage of skilled nurses out there.

just a shortage of those willing to put up with the crap admin, doctors and "customers" dish out increasingly ...

as well as dangerous cost-cutting measures in the name of

the bottom line.

this is not news.

roxannekkb · Sep 25, 2003

Originally posted by AMV
It was about the nursing shortage. Very GOOD article. One of the points that I thought was the most interesting was that the article pointed out that there are MORE nurses (qualified) NOT practicing than there are physicians in this country that ARE practicing. The magazine points out that there may not actually be a shortage of nurses, per se, rather a shortage of nurses who want to work in nursing! They cite the reasons as poor staffing, work conditions, etc. (we ALL know what those reasons would be!)

I am trying to find the article somewhere online... but not having any luck. If I find it, I will post it here - if any of you all find it, please share it!!! It is from this months' (October actually) issue!

I don't think Woman's Day posts its articles on line. And that revelation has been well known for some time, although its usually shoved aside by those who are on the recruitment bandwagon and get-more-people-into-nursing school philosphy. As though stuffing more people into a broken system is going to do anything.

It's good that a consumer magazine finally printed this, instead of the usual "there's a nursing shortage and we need more nurses" stuff. I will have to look for a copy.

Is it in the newest edition?

AMV · Sep 25, 2003

Yes it is the October 7th issue, with the Jack O' Lantern on the cover.

I had NO idea about those statistics! When you hear "nursing shortage", that is all you think - that there aren't enough nurses out there. I, of course know that there are some out there who have left nursing for calmer waters.... but I had NO IDEA it was in such HUGE numbers. It isn't surprising though - I work on a PCU unit in a hospital - staffing SUCKS! I wonder sometimes, how long I can continue to do it! (One of the main reasons I am gathering together my college transcrips to go back to school for my NP!)

I hope a lot of people see that article. I read it in my doctor's office yesterday. It would be great if the media would pick up on this as well.... hello Oprah....? 20/20....?

llg, PhD, RN · Sep 25, 2003

While I certainly acknowledge that there are enough licensed RN's and the "shortage" is really a shortage of RN's who want to practice ... and I certainly support efforts to improve working conditions and compensation! .... I think we need to be careful about how we interpret and respond to those facts.

The issues are more complicated than a simplistic "those bad guys make our lives miserable and THAT's the whole cause of the problem" perspective will resolve.

Lately, I have been thinking about the shortage in a broad context that includes general societal trends. I don't have all my thoughts quite together yet, but let me throw a few out there and see what you think.

1. Many professions have a career trajectory that includes a relatively early retirement (or transfer/promotion to a "desk job") in the belief that the job is primarily a young person's job because of the job's physical demands. I am thinking about military careers, police, firemen, etc. It is not expected that many people much over the age of 50 will be working as "foot soldiers" or "beat cops" or climbing the fire ladders to rescue people.

Even public school teachers often have contracts that give them full retirement benefits after 30-35 years of service. My sister plans to retire from teaching in a couple of years at the age of 55.

Many of the RN's in those statistics are people old enough that they would not want to work as a nurse under any circumstances. Believe me, there are many RN's out there in the 80's -- and we really can't count on them to come back to the bedside no matter what we do! :-) I even know of one case in which an elderly man renewed his late wife's RN license for several years after her death "because it meant so much to her."

Other RN's out of the workforce (or only working minimally part-time) are not so elderly, but again, would not come back no matter what. They became nurses with the intent on working full time for a couple of years, then maybe parttime for a while after they got and had kids. Their "life plan" never included being a full time career woman forever. Some continue to work as a nurse a little, some not at all, some have taken less demanding jobs -- but again, these people are unlikely to come back no matter what. Compare this group of people to the police/fire/military people I mentioned above. Yet, this group maintains their licensure and is counted in the stats.

How many of you really planned (in a realistic way) to be a bedside nurse for 40-some years when you were in school? Was that your intent? your desire? etc.

My point is not that nurses haven't been treated badly at times -- we have. And of course, we need to do whatever we can to stop all abuse and improve working conditions and career options for all nurses. However, we also need to be realistic about nursing careers and the interpretation of those statistics that report how many RN's there actually are. It's easy to look at those numbers and jump to wrong conclusions.

llg

AMV · Sep 25, 2003

You have a point there llg. The truth is, I had planned on only working part-time, PRN till .... whenever. Then hubbie was laid off a couple of years ago, started his own business, we needed insurance benefits, so I went back to work full-time. I am now working in a different area - PCU - mostly adult cardiac - and I love it!

I know however, I won't be able to keep up the pace like this. The shift goes by fast, but I am BEAT at the end of 12 hours! I really admire all of the Nurse Practitioners I work with and really have had a strong desire to become one! My employer had several colleges come by our hospital recently, and I got more info about their NP program - and I am really excited! It is what I want and with 3, 12 hour shifts, I can do it! It will be hard, but do-able.

I guess the good thing about nursing is that it is so flexible. The vast majority of those in this profession ARE women (over 90%). And, let's be honest, often it is left up to women to be the flexible one when it comes to kiddo's - I know that has been true for me with our children. And that is OK, I have really enjoyed being home with them so much! I have to say though, that now hubbie is self-employed, HE is the flexible one and it is REALLY NICE for me!! And he is now enjoying being there with the kid's - especially our youngest who is 8 and still wants mom and dad around at school. I feel like for once, I am not the one who's needs come last - although that has been ok for me - because of our kiddo's - that has always been our plan. I am taking advantage of this and going to every critical care continuing ed class my hospital offers, etc. It is great!

But finally, I really do feel, so many more nurses would STAY in nursing and so many more men would go into nursing in the first place, if staffing was more adequate and salary was more appropriate. The responsibility we have and the education required puts us in the category of "professional", no doubt about it - BUT - during yet another short-staffed shift, you sure don't feel like much of a "professional" when you can't get done what needs to be done and you feel like you are short changing your patients and yourself. If this were once in a while, no big deal! We all have busy days. However, when this is the NORM. That just isn't acceptable!

And as the WD article points out, when nurses are running frantically from room to room, things get missed. Has the pt's breath sounds changed, has their color changed. Are we going to miss things when they start to crash? Will I have time to see lab results as soon as they come back. Did the Dr. get notified right away when their dig level was way high, or the potassium was way low?? Did I have the time to be present and recognize the s/s of acute Pulmonary edema? Or cardiac tamponade? Working on a cardiac floor, this is important!! And these situations occour on a daily basis where I work! And it could mean life or death to my patients if I have the time to pick these things up and intervene! We ARE the eyes and ears of the physician. We have the responsiblility to make critical decisions. And when things get missed because we have WAY too many patients, it is our patients who pay the price! And the truth is - in the VAST majority of hospitals in this country - nurses are given WAY too many patients than they should have!! The California law (if I lived in Ca.) would require nurses on my floor to have 4 patients now per nurse, and the ideal in 2005 (I think - or 2008) will be 3. Yet on my floor we have 5 - and as soon as one leaves, you are getting a new admission to replace them. And we know how much time and admission takes!! PLUS our charge nurse who should be there to help us when things get crazy, takes patients (on the DAY SHIFT no less!). Oh, and our "tele tech" who is supposed to be constanly watching the telemetry monitors - is also our unit secretary! So it is no surprise when it takes 20 minutes to notice that a patient's leads have been off!

This is the frutstration I feel on a daily basis. And I feel frustration because I CARE! I care about nursing in general, but most of all, I care about people - my patients and those who WILL be my patients. I want things to change for THEM!

And something must be done so that the emphasis is not on a hospital's budget and how much profit a hospital makes for the fiscal quarter, but on good patient care!! That our patients know they are in good hands when they are sick. That is what they need most! We are good nurses, but what does the public see when we are stretched so thin, we can't do our jobs correctly?

Repat · Sep 25, 2003

I read the article - but did you see, in the same issue, the one titled "Is it time to change your doctor?". One of the reasons - when you make an appointment "you only see a nurse". Now how's that for double speak? We need to raise the awareness that we are trained health professionals that are due the support and respect that people affors other professions. I love the idea of "desk jobs". I, too, always wanted to be a nurse, and I love the profession for the challenges it offers. But I am getting older and I can see that 12 hour shifts on a busy floor are going to be too much very soon. I am in a NP program because of that. But, that is one of the beauties of nursing - it is flexible and offers many other paths, careerwise.

SmilingBluEyes · Sep 25, 2003

UGH repat.

figures.

i did not see the article.

ah well good thing. I get mad enough about these things and today is a good day, so i won't bother.

roxannekkb · Sep 26, 2003

Originally posted by llg
While I certainly acknowledge that there are enough licensed RN's and the "shortage" is really a shortage of RN's who want to practice ... and I certainly support efforts to improve working conditions and compensation! .... I think we need to be careful about how we interpret and respond to those facts.

llg

One statistic that they may have left out (I haven't seen the article yet) is that there are about 140,000 RNs who are working full time in a different profession. And about 100,000 more who are under retirement age, and do not have small children at home, who are not working in a full time job (this stat may include part timers, entrepreneurs, freelancers, etc.) So there are at least about 250,000 who are not retired, and have the potential to return to nursing.

Plus, another survey estimated that at least 10% of this 500,000 would be willing to return to nursing if conditions improve. That's 50,000 nurses!

And as I type this, nurses are quitting. Even if they don't leave healthcare outright, they are moving into non-patient care areas, or going on to a higher degree.

Hellllllo Nurse, BSN, RN · Sep 26, 2003

I am an RN. I'm 38 years old, no kids.

I had planned on working full time for many years. But I'm only working two days aweek, because of the TERRIBLE WORKING CONDITIONS I've experienced out there.

My back is ruined from working as a nurse. I only work two days a week because that's all I can stand, physically, emotionally and mentally.

AmyRN1227 · Sep 26, 2003

I didn't see this particular article but there is also an ongoing series in Reader's Digest about the "Nursing Shortage". Someone posted part 1 up in our unit talking about nurse ratios and how when it increases that patient's death rates increase. Makes sense...but administration doesn't care.

Also, part II was about an ICU nurse's unsafe and dangerous day in the unit. It was pretty good.

Amy :( :(

llg, PhD, RN · Sep 26, 2003

Expanding a little on my previous post ...

I think that it might be unrealistic for people to expect women to be able to do some of the more physical tasks of bedside nursing as they get older -- even under reasonable conditions. That has 2 very big and obvious implications.

1. Individual nurses need a career plan that will enable them to build on their early experiences and secure a job that they can physically (and emotionally) do into their 60's. (Again, think of firemen, police, soldiers, etc. who are not expected to be doing the same physical work as the younger guys after a certain age.)

2. We need to re-design our work significantly to accommodate older workers -- and some of those changes may be unpopular and expensive. For example, we may have to switch back to a preponderance of 8-hours shifts rather than 12-hour shifts. We may need to hire more "young folks" in support roles with less education to help with some of the heavy lifting. etc. These types of things might allow some people to work as staff nurses for more years.

What other suggestions do you have to change the nature of nursing work that would make it easier for the older nurse to remain at the bedside? -- besides the obvious (but not very helpful in a practical sense) "hire more nurses" response? (We won't be able to "hire more nurses" until the nature of the workplace changes. The change has to come first ... the "more nurses" will follow -- and it is not just a matter of money.)

llg