Do you feel society is in denial about the nursing field?

sweetnurse63, BSN, RN · May 17, 2011

no, just misinformed

CalidthreeN · May 17, 2011

There are jobs, they just happen to be reserved for certain people,lol

carolmaccas66, BSN, RN · May 17, 2011

I've said for years that NOBODY in the world appreciates hard working nurses and hospitals, until they themselves get sick or a close friend/family member gets sick. Then they suddenly realise the problems we face. Some never do, society doesn't care about nurses or it's hospitals. I've tried many, many times in the past to up awareness of our local community hospital, and the public weren't interestered in supporting it, so I simply gave up. Everyone complains about hospitals/nurses striking, whatever, but nobody is willing to support us - least of all the government - in any shape or form.

If every nurse went on strike (hypothetical) and hospitals didn't take new admits, people & the govt would soon start listening to us - but then we'd probably get called insane radicals or something for doing that, and get called uncaring as well!

AgentBeast, MSN, RN · May 17, 2011

Teaching and Nursing are probably two of the most under appreciated professions there are.

dthfytr, ADN, LPN, RN, EMT-B, EMT-I · May 17, 2011

Plenty of jobs, just not in the paces most people want them. I get recruitment offers several times per week. Have you looked for work in El Paso TX?

rkitty198, BSN, RN · May 17, 2011

Plenty of jobs, just not in the paces most people want them. I get recruitment offers several times per week. Have you looked for work in El Paso TX?

I worked in el paso for 3 years- plenty of jobs.

stoberto · May 17, 2011

There are jobs in SC too, and we have alot of nursing schools...my friend had a job with the heart surgery team at a hospital before he graduated last week, and I feel pretty good about my chances in 5 weeks...network network network...

highlandlass1592, BSN, RN · May 17, 2011

Yes I do

diva rn, BSN, RN · May 17, 2011

Yes I feel that the general public is very misinformed about the nursing field...and the artificial nursing shortage.

In South Florida there is NO nursing shortage. I was at a meeting tonight where a new grad has been looking for over 1.5 years now...and is seriously considering giving up the profession. There were also 2 experienced RNs who have been looking now for over 6 months. One has 20 years of experiece and a BSN, she has management experience as well, and she has only been able to find a per diem job with about 25 hours a week so far. The other has had no luck, also many years of experience. Another one of my friends has just gotten a job at the Cleveland Clinic, after looking seriously for 6 months, she has to drive over 90 minutes to get there.

It's very tight, yet the schools keep turning out these nursing like there is a drought.

Yet, I still here on the TV about the "nursing shortage"....makes me crazy....maybe there is a shortage in some more undesirable areas of the country, or rural areas, but here in Fl, and also Seattle where my daughter lives, the market is very competitive.

eriksoln, BSN, RN · May 17, 2011

Nope. General public is more informed than many of us think. Us nurses (and I am guilty of it, so don't take this as I am bashing anyone but myself) love to think we are the gatekeepers of some secret/deep/dark/complex information and...........eh, not so much the reality of it all.

People know there are nurses out there who graduated in '09 who are not working. They also know that in the next few years its going to get worse.

I think the way they see it is kinda in tune with how Hospital Admin. see's things: "We are only going to staff so many nurses, so, may as well staff the highest quality nurses so as much as possible gets done."

In short, people are all aboard for the idea of "flooding the nursing field with nurses", not because the hospital will hire more but because it gives hospitals the ability to get rid of the trash and have better RN's (meaning, they still staff the same, but who they staff, in theory, is more motivated).

Its the pt's life at stake, can't blame them for being aboard with it.

Mike A. Fungin RN · May 17, 2011

There is a nursing shortage, but things are tight right now. That means fewer people retiring or moving jobs, fewer new jobs being created, and employers asking employees to do more with less. That means when staff resign or go out on maternity leave, that position might not get filled.

Nursing isn't unique, it's happening to a lot of professions right now. There are no guarantees in life, least of all that a degree guarantees a job upon graduating.