Do you see the pendulum swinging the other way?

Repat · Nov 21, 2003

I think the major problem being run into now is that there are NO teachers - that will keep the lid on supply for quite a while.

Pretzlgl · Nov 21, 2003

In my hospital there is actually a waiting list to get onto certain floors/units. And there are no dayshift positions available. Last year perdiem nurses worked as often as they wanted - this year they are cancelled constantly. Seems to me as if things may be swinging a little the other way.

indie · Nov 21, 2003

While local evidence may not support the nursing shortage, there is enough nationawide evidence to support that we are not training enough RNs to cover the projected shortfall as experienced nurses reach retirment age over the next ten years.

Some hospitals truly believe the evidence that good nursing care and adequate staffing prevents poor outcomes in patients. As this gets to be better known and other facilities are getting poorer outcomes, then this will contribute to a pendulum swing toward needing even more professional nurses.

There are always local pockets of no shortage, often related to unusual demographics or a glut of nursing schools nearby, but overall the picture is clear.

East coast recruitment in one state is significantly increased, but when analyzed it seems all new hires are over 50 and often returning to the work force as their spouses were laid off work and the economic climate dropped.

Although I do rather like the statement:

'there is no nursing shortage, only a shortage of nurses willing to work in poor conditions'

ceecel.dee, MSN, RN · Nov 21, 2003

Originally posted by indie
'there is no nursing shortage, only a shortage of nurses willing to work in poor conditions'

This quote accurately conveys the trend we are dealing with at our institution, in living color. I think the issues are more complicated then the number of new grads flushing through.

sjoe · Nov 21, 2003

Those who still entertain the fantasy that training more nurses is any solution to the "nursing shortage," might want to read this article in the current Nurseweek:

http://www.nurseweek.com/5min/whelan.asp

P_RN, ADN, RN · Nov 22, 2003

Interesting article sjoe. The last line says

Nurses have a lot of creativity and hospital administrators need to let them tackle this problem.

It is my firm opinion that if the top of the totem were downsized it would help the status immensely. Where I worked the VP for Nursing had NO say as to what nurses did or didn't do. That was under the pervue of the VP over XR, RT and Environmental Services in addition to Nursing.

sjoe · Nov 22, 2003

P rn writes: "The last line says: Nurses have a lot of creativity and hospital administrators need to let them tackle this problem. "

I disagree with the tone and the approach of much of the article, myself. Way too passive and weak.

I am sick and tired of this business about "hospital administrators need to let them." NOBODY is going to hand any power to nurses, nor to anyone else. Nurses have to seize it, just as every group with power has seized it in the past.

Or things will simply continue much as they are today.

Enough of the "sleeping beauty"-type fairy tales, where the lovely, helpless, powerless, trapped heroine waits passively for prince charming to come and rescue her!

There ain't no stinkin' prince charming coming along in healthcare and there never will be. She needs to get up off her butt and get moving on her own, and rather than continuing to imitate Cinderella's mutually destructive and backbiting stepsisters, needs to find a way of working together with them for whatever changes are needed.

In My Humble Opinion

sanakruz, ADN · Nov 22, 2003

ditto

indie · Nov 22, 2003

I'm with sjoe.

Until we get out of the employee mindset then RNs will continue to be expected to work under conditions that would appall most blue collar workers.

I'm an independent, have been for years, and I know I am treated better by administrators and patients than when I was an employee.

At 'interview' / contract negotiation I have never lost out by asking for what I want and not accepting less (I go in with a couple of points I am willing to concede, just to show negotiation skills, but I know what those points are - they do not).

Please, stand together for better conditions. The fewer of us who will accept the idiocy passing for 'control of nursing staff' in facilities, the sooner facility bosses will be obliged to instutite fair working practices to remain competitive.

Push our strength; patient outcomes (and patient satisfaction surveys) improve with the skill level and number of RNs on the unit. End of story.

roxannekkb · Nov 22, 2003

When I was going to nursing school in the 80s, it was the same thing. Waiting lists to get in, not enough teachers, and so on. It's really been that way with nursing programs, particularly the cheaper ones at state schools and community colleges, because there are only so many students that can be admitted to a program. This has not only to do with instructors, but with coordination with area hospitals for clinicals. Clinical groups have to be small, and you can only put so many into any given hospital at one time. So I really doubt that this is a trend, and that there will be a glut.

Also, healthcare jobs are always attractive options in economic downturns. Watch the economy pick up, watch and see a new industry awaken, and nursing will be a lot less attractive again. This cycle has happened before.

The only thing which will stem our so called nursing shortage is improvement in working conditions. The main problem is the flow of nurses out of the profession, and not a lack of students coming in.

fergus51 · Nov 22, 2003

I really think the nursing shortage is regional. A lot of new nurses have trouble finding jobs after graduation (either in the specialty they want or full time hours). A lot of new nurses are stuck with casual positions and wind up leaving for greener pastures.