Do you think too many people are jumping into nursing?

[BreBeeNeuroNurse]

I see more and more people in my senior class going into college programs for nursing, half of which have no idea what nurses actually do. I myself am going into nursing but I am also enrolled in a cna program at my highschool which prepares us for higher education as well so I know what I'm getting into, but my peers have no idea from what they have told me. They see it as babies and bandages and have no real understanding of what nursing actually is. Which in turn, contributes to the over-saturation of new nursing grads in the work force that will quit nursing within 2 years anyway. Just wanting to see other people's opinions on this subject.

[theRNJedi]

well....I have two answers for your question. Yes, too many people do declare nursing as their major, and maybe this is done because of naivety and sheer aspiration to enter a promising profession (which is what you should want to do when you're young and evaluating your options), however not to worry...nursing programs are competitive and rigorous and the process will weed out those students who are not qualified.

And no, I don't think too many people are entering nursing...in fact, the outlook for the profession demands more people enter nursing. There is a nursing shortage and the US needs nurses to fill the gap (albeit there's a need for 'experienced' nurses more than new grads, hence your perception of 'over-saturation'...but that's another topic altogether); so on that note there is a need for students to pursue nursing.

What the profession really needs are more faculty, clinical sites, and resident opportunities so all the new grads can gain experience and fill the shortage. There's coalitions, legislation, and professional nursing organizations that are all campaigning to improve this hang-up of turning novice new grads into experienced skilled professionals.

-TheRNjedi

[WookieeRN, BSN, MSN, RN]

There is a nursing shortage and the US needs nurses to fill the gap (albeit there's a need for 'experienced' nurses more than new grads, hence your perception of 'over-saturation'...but that's another topic altogether); so on that note there is a need for students to pursue nursing.

There is NO nursing shortage. They are now predicting a glut of nurses by 2025. Even experienced nurses are starting to have trouble. If hospitals actually staffed to a reasonable patient ratio there would probably be a nursing shortage, but that will probably happen at quarter to never.

To answer OPs question... I feel like everyone knows someone who is a "nursing major." I used that term lightly because a lot of people seem to declare themselves as nursing majors before even being accepted into the nursing portion of their program. The thing is, I feel like an overwhelming amount of people who start as pre-nursing fizzle out for many reasons (students can't her the grades, or decide nursing isn't for them, etc). Some people go in just thinking their compassion will get them through nursing school, don't understand the hard sciences required, or simply just are up to the academic rigors because, like you said, they really only saw the sterotype of nursing and not the reality.