Do you think the nursing shortage is disappearing?

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Specializes in Critical Care.

It feels to me like more and more new nurses are coming out of schools. We've hired, in the last four months, twenty new grads in our two critical care units alone. There will always be certain areas that run short - dialysis, long term, psych, etc...but acute care doesn't seem to be hurting as bad as in the past, perhaps. I know the economy is bad and perhaps that's more important to these hiring freezes that seem to be ongoing, but do you think more incoming nurses have quite a bit to do with that also?

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Specializes in LTC/SNF, Psychiatric, Pharmaceutical.
It feels to me like more and more new nurses are coming out of schools. We've hired, in the last four months, twenty new grads in our two critical care units alone. There will always be certain areas that run short - dialysis, long term, psych, etc...but acute care doesn't seem to be hurting as bad as in the past, perhaps. I know the economy is bad and perhaps that's more important to these hiring freezes that seem to be ongoing, but do you think more incoming nurses have quite a bit to do with that also?

With the average length of a nurse's career being four years, due to burnout, half of these new grads will end up leaving in disgust and disillusionment within a year, and more noobs will be hired to replace them.

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Specializes in ER.

I prefer not to be flamed...but I am going to share my observations as a student...

I don't doubt that the shortage is getting better in critical care areas because they are a good place for students who want to go to grad school to end up. The rumor is that they pay better as well since its a specialty area of care. Same with ER or OB, right?

Like the poster above mentioned, these folks will probably shuffle on as soon as they can get into grad school or get sick of whatever it is that they get sick of, whichever comes first. After that, you get more new folks.

To me, the landscape looks like a revolving door. The RN almost seems like a midway point, somewhere between here and grad school.

Its kind of intimidating. I don't know what kind of nurse I want to be or what kind of patients I want to take care of but even our instructors kind of push the grad school thing which makes me think I have to have critical care...

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Specializes in Emergency, Case Management, Informatics.
With the average length of a nurse's career being four years, due to burnout, half of these new grads will end up leaving in disgust and disillusionment within a year, and more noobs will be hired to replace them.

Where did you get that figure from? I'm guessing this guy right here:

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Seriously, who would spend 2 to 4 years in school only to leave their chose profession after 4 years? There are so many options in modern nursing, I highly doubt that the average nurse completely leaves the field after 4 years.

The average tenure of my coworkers at my current facility is about 15-20 years.

As for the OP's question, the nursing shortage isn't disappearing any time soon. Baby boomers are still retiring, which means fewer experienced nurses in the workforce and more patients. We can only hope that those retiring will transition to nursing education so that we can fill the gap they're leaving behind.

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Specializes in ccu cardiovascular.

There will always be the need for the bedside nurse. They say the burnout for this is 4 years, well I'm now in my 12th year and have no desire to go to grad school. I see the nurses that are case managers, unit managers and honesltly if they had to take an assisgnment on a floor they would not be able to do it. I like being a floor nurse. I like responding to codes and knowing I was an integral part in the recovery of a patient.

I'm a preceptor and very little new nurses stay on the job. This year we hired 10 new nurses well 6 are already telling me they are looking for a new job after 30 days on the floor. The grass always seems to be greener on the otherside so to speak. I love my job, yes LOVE MY JOB! Even on the roughest days I still go home satisfied I did a good job and made a difference in one of my patients lives even if I just sat and listened for 5 minutes on how proud they are of their children, grandchildren. I think we need to stress the importance of the bedside nurse in our schools because like it or not that is where the need is and probally will be in the future.

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Specializes in Emergency Room.
There will always be the need for the bedside nurse. They say the burnout for this is 4 years, well I'm now in my 12th year and have no desire to go to grad school. I see the nurses that are case managers, unit managers and honesltly if they had to take an assisgnment on a floor they would not be able to do it. I like being a floor nurse. I like responding to codes and knowing I was an integral part in the recovery of a patient.

I'm a preceptor and very little new nurses stay on the job. This year we hired 10 new nurses well 6 are already telling me they are looking for a new job after 30 days on the floor. The grass always seems to be greener on the otherside so to speak. I love my job, yes LOVE MY JOB! Even on the roughest days I still go home satisfied I did a good job and made a difference in one of my patients lives even if I just sat and listened for 5 minutes on how proud they are of their children, grandchildren. I think we need to stress the importance of the bedside nurse in our schools because like it or not that is where the need is and probally will be in the future.

you are so right, but unfortunately the majority of bedside nurses don't like their jobs...they just put up with it. if more people felt the way you did, it would be VERY competitive to get jobs. and lets face it, everyone can't handle the bedside and some hospitals don't exactly make it easy either (broken equipment, can't find supplies, very little ancillary help etc,,) and i agree with the other poster that schools are now pushing the MSN or higher because now we are facing a primary care doctor shortage that will only get worse. i have trained 4 new nurses within the last 2 years and they all made it clear that the bedside was just a stepping stone to grad school.

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Specializes in ER, Tele, Cardiac Cath Lab.

There is certainly a huge nursing shortage in every dept here in the sunshine state of Florida.

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Specializes in ICU.

Some areas there is more of a shortage than in other areas. Where I live, I could get a 5K bonus at one hospital and would be lucky to get hired at another.

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Specializes in LTC/SNF, Psychiatric, Pharmaceutical.
Where did you get that figure from? I'm guessing this guy right here:

Seriously, who would spend 2 to 4 years in school only to leave their chose profession after 4 years? There are so many options in modern nursing, I highly doubt that the average nurse completely leaves the field after 4 years.

The average tenure of my coworkers at my current facility is about 15-20 years.

As for the OP's question, the nursing shortage isn't disappearing any time soon. Baby boomers are still retiring, which means fewer experienced nurses in the workforce and more patients. We can only hope that those retiring will transition to nursing education so that we can fill the gap they're leaving behind.

Why don't you ask the ones that did bail out after 4 years of abuse?

Bully for your facility. At every facility I've ever worked at save my current job, which is a plasma center, the most senior floor nurse at any given time had only been working at the facility two years, and most of them didn't last 6 months.

When I receive my next Oklahoma BON newsletter, I will be sure to post the statistics of how many nurses in this state are fully licensed but not practicing nursing. And I am sure Linda will also vouch for the fact that a major improvement in working conditions would entice a great many of these nurses back to the bedside.

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But a scarier thought to me is why a facility would need to hire 20 new grads for a critical care unit at about the same time. Why are there that many openings in the first place, and why are they not able to attract those with experience? That sends up a big red flag to me.

How many with significant work experience will be there when they finish their orientation to work along side them as they begin their work on their own? How are they getting oriented when there at that many that will be on the unit at any given time? There are those that work in critical care and love to precept and there are those that will not take a new nurse for any reason whatsoever.

Finding a new grad orientation in many areas is getting harder to do, but if one has actual acute care experience then they can go almost anywhere. Some areas actually have more nursing grads that they are putting out than there are new grad jobs available, one would be San Francisco. There are many other areas as well.

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Specializes in LTC, Psych, M/S.

The OP hits the nail on the head......nursing schools have dramatically increased the numbers of new grads in probably about the past 5 years. To prove it do a yahoo news seach of 'nsg school.' The school i went to DOUBLED the numbers of students they take each year, as well as there being a new school opened in the neighboring town. This makes it very competitive to get a job as a new grad - in that locale anyway. I'm pretty sure you aren't really 'marketable' until you have 1-2 years acute care experience. But how can you get experience if the hospital won't hire you as a new grad???? they can only take so many at a time if they are to adequately train them.

A friend of mine who just started nsg school said that on the first day of class, the director warned them of this - they probably would have a hard time getting a job in that area.

It is kindve like the 'right hand doesn't know what the left is doing.'

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Specializes in ER, PACU, Med-Surg, Hospice, LTC.
Seriously, who would spend 2 to 4 years in school only to leave their chose profession after 4 years? There are so many options in modern nursing, I highly doubt that the average nurse completely leaves the field after 4 years.

I went to school with a lot! They got thrown into the real world of Nursing and realized, it was NOT what they went to school for. A few never even worked as Nurses after they graduated. Others started and then quit to start their own NON-Nursing businesses. It is very common.

Article

"Thirty per cent of nurses are leaving the profession within just five years of graduation, said Karen Craik, spokeswoman for the union that represents about 25,000 nurses".

"A disturbing thing with younger nurses is that because of the workload, and just other nurses being too busy to do actual mentoring, we are seeing high rates of nurses just saying after a couple of years, 'I can't deal with this.' So, they leave the profession altogether," she said".

Article

"50% of current nurses say that they have considered leaving the patient care field for reasons other than retirement in the last two years."

"Most nurses say that, if they were younger and just starting out, they would pursue a different career rather than become a registered nurse."

Article

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