Do you think that the nursing job outlook will get better?

RheatherN, ASN, RN, EMT-P · Jun 12, 2009

i really believe that nursing goes in cycles, like everything IN nursing. we go thru this cycle thru-out the yrs and it will come back around. I dont know how long it takes to go thru the course, but if your going to have your second baby, why dont you take it at your own pace and keep it current so when your ready to go, you have what you need! Besides, you never know what could come up in the mean time that may spike your interest or be the perfect opprotunity for you. and think of how much you would kick yourself in the behind if you didnt do it, and then something so perfect for you came about?? right?? gotcha thinkin now huh?? lol

gl in whatever you decide!!

-H-RN

hotshot12345 · Jun 12, 2009

a nurse was telling me back in 94 it was the same as now.

jRN2be · Jun 12, 2009

there are plenty of jobs in nursing.. where do you live

LEN-RN · Jun 12, 2009

I agree with the suggestion you go forward at your own pace with the refresher course. Who knows what the future holds. I do think it goes in cycles.

Good luck:)

Future TX RN · Jun 12, 2009

I would say do it; I just got accepted into the nursing program @ my school and I start in the fall.

While the universal health care proposal is scary and may hurt the nursing field; getting a nursing degree is still one of the best degrees to have. Just do it and keep your fingers crossed, that's what I'm doin' :)

and good luck!!

Ruby Vee, BSN · Jun 12, 2009

nursing, like the economy, is cyclical. while i have no idea how long the cycle will last, i have no doubt that the outlook will get better. in the mid 90s, they were laying off nurses right and left but that turned around. just hang tight and this will turn around as well.

hope3456, ASN, RN · Jun 12, 2009

My prediction is that the nsg job market will not 'open up' for another 4-5 years when alot of RN's will start retiring. Until then, there are so many grads coming out the nursing schools that it is going to be very competitve for them. I can't say I would recommend going to nsg school in the next couple years.

Curious1alwys, BSN, RN · Jun 12, 2009

As far as my personal situation, the refresher course is like traditional college, for one semester. I didn't choose one of those online "at your own pace" things because I feel like when I do make the decision to go back to work in nursing I want to cram all that info in quick and intense and then start my job. I think if I ended up working at my own pace with a year or so to complete the course, I'd forget anyway!! And the traditional program sets up clinicals for you...the others YOU have to obtain it and from what I found out not too many hospitals are very keen on that right now since they are having a hard time placing even the current nursing students for clinicals...

either way I'll have to be employed or have taken the refresher by mid 2011 when my licence is due to expire. I am thinking maybe next Spring.

Thanks for your opinions. That is what I wanted!

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Jun 12, 2009

Yes, nursing employment will rise in the near future, and I'm not being overly emotional or optimistic when I state this. I'm basing my conjecture on the demographic changes that will soon hit the healthcare facilities.

There are currently 78 million middle-aged baby boomers currently living in the U.S. that were born during the post-WWII years of 1946 to 1964. The oldest of the baby boomers are presently turning 63 years old, while the youngest of this generation is 45 years of age.

This demographic shift will have serious implications for the nursing community and healthcare as a whole, because masses of elderly people will be entering our hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, hospice agencies, and home health agencies very soon. These baby boomers will be older, sicker, more obese, more sedentary, and live longer than the generations before them.

Just give it some time. Nurses will have an even more enhanced role in caring for these millions of potential patients.

rngolfer53 · Jun 13, 2009

I know we are in an economic downturn and all. We all know jobs are hard to come by these days, very especially for new grads.
I was considering taking a refresher course to re-enter nursing (although I never really started anyway!) and I am kinda at the point where I don't want to waste my money on it right now. I would like to do it but just too afraid a job won't be there to even be had afterwards! I think I'll just have my second baby and stay at home for now. It's gonna be tough but...I was trying to choose between the two and I think the job market is making my choice for me!!
Just wondering, in your opinion, will it get better? Is this just going to run its course or did all of us recent grads make the wrong career choice? I am laughing now at all the "nursing shortage" stuff. Yeah right.

Sure, it'll get better again, and worse again, and better, etc.

The trick is figuring out when. That no one knows. As John Maynard Keynes pointed out about markets, they can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent.

My :twocents: is do what you really want to do now. Any timing error that may entail viz-a-viz the job market won't be that terrible.

llg, PhD, RN · Jun 13, 2009

Sure, it'll get better again, and worse again, and better, etc.
The trick is figuring out when. That no one knows. As John Maynard Keynes pointed out about markets, they can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent.
My is do what you really want to do now. Any timing error that may entail viz-a-viz the job market won't be that terrible.

I agree. I always advise people to "follow their hearts." No one can predict the future with any certainty. So, choose the paths that will satisfy your heart and soul and then strive to make that path work for you. Think how miserable it would be to choose a path that didn't satisfy your inner needs just because you thought it would be "practical" only to discover in the future that the environmental conditions had changed and it wasn't going to contnue to be a practical choice.

... And BTW: We are starting to hire again at my hospital -- not at levels typical of previous summers, but sufficiently to replace anyone who leaves. Some of the more outstanding new grads from the spring (who had applied in the February-May time frame) are now being called to schedule an interview if they are stll available and interested.