Everyone seems to be turning to nursing. I remember way back when (5 years ago) when nursing was a calling. There were still other jobs a person could do and make a living--like heating and air conditioning. Now nursing is a lifeboat--a recesion-proof job that anyone and everyone is considering.
I see post after post in here of people who have no experience, no particular desire, and no particular aptitude for nursing inquiring about nursing as a job. They need something to pay the bills. I just went to a restaurant tonight, and two of our waiters are starting nursing school.
Let's face it, with the coming depression, nursing wages are attractive. So here's a prediction, please tell me if you agree or disagree:
Nursing boards will start requiring a 4-year degree to sit for the NCLEX.
The Nursing shortage is going to end in about 3 years; in five there will be a glut of nurses and getting a job will be about like getting a job as an NP is now.
Travel agencies will cease to exist and agency nursing will go the way of the way of the dinosaur.
Without unions, hospitals will force nurses to take about 14 patients a shift and will simply fire those who won't do it.
There are too many nurses out there already who are not in it as their calling ~ and have been throughout history. That is exactly what motivates me to get out there all the more! (2010) I wish 'to be the change'. (Ghandi, not Obama!)
Where I live wages are already low because it is a beach area where it is assumed people will settle for less money for the proximity to the ocean. My sister lives in a tiny little town in the midwest noone ever has heard of and the nurses there are making much more money than they are here in this fairly well known city with a higher rated cost of living. Some nurses here are already forced to take lower paying jobs and work shifts they don't want. Turn over rates are insane. Work conditions can be poor. There seems to be lots of nurses with axes to grind.
I'm a mid-life career changer and not looking for just a good paying job; I'm looking for a satisfying career. My fear is that there will be lots of lousy jobs out there. The shortage looks to lie within good positions. I could shovel cr*p all day if I work with good people and the conditions are good. But in bad conditions with overworked, negative coworkers, even the seemingly cushiest job is a grind.
What I'm coming to learn is that we as nurses have voices and have power to make changes in the field of health care. It is my understanding that it is actually part of our responsibility as nurses. I hope I am not alone in hoping to make a change for the better; that not everyone else out there is all take and no give.
There are a few statements from previous posters that make me go mmmm, (I know a realy bad song and should never be referenced). The first is that some nurses are in it for the money, I think that this is a silly statement in that if we wern't paid, who could afford to nurse the sick, we would have to get other jobs to feed our families. Is this any different from the footballers who hold their hand out for a multimillion dollar paycheck for throwing a football around.....how many kids are pushed to play college ball and then on to the professional league just to support their families? How many fail to reach that pinnacle? Sort of parralels nursing...except the multimillion dolllar paycheck.
With the babyboomers retireing and needing health care I believe that there will be an increased need for nurses, just not in the acute care field, nursing will change and more sub-acute positions are going to be needed, be they LTC or assisted living. In reality the hospital I work at could kick out all of the acute Pt's, open up as a LTC and be filled within months.
I live in a country with the "socialised" healthcare system so don't have the concerns about unemployment that most of you have, if anything, in my area there are two seperate programs for educating overseas nurses to gain Registration in Australia and another for bringing back the "old and bold" to bedside nursing, and I stil get called in for overtime......not bad with only two hospitals in my area.
A lot of people leave nursing for a number of reasons, those of us who stick to it should have few dramas long term in finding and keeping a job. As with anything else, when you have a job it is easier to get your next, (better) job.
"people who have no experience, no particular desire, and no particular aptitude for nursing inquiring about nursing as a job. They need something to pay the bills."
These people should NOT be nurses. PERIOD. What a HORRIBLE reason to become a nurse!
Please, people, do something else with your careers. Save the spots at nursing schools for those who really want to be nurses.
I think that the profession of nursing is going to have to change itself if the nursing shortage continues. I can definitely see #1 becoming a reality in the future. I can also see the inclusion of more assistive personnel in the acute care setting (less training, pay) that will take care of tasks normally performed by a nurse. The nurse will assume more of a leadership/supervisory role in the care of patients. With a physician shortage also looming, I think that nurses will grow into the gap left by having less physicians available. Of course, our professional responsiblities/qualifications may also need to expand as well.
I don't think there will ever be a "glut" of nurses. The baby boomers will be retiring as soon as they can afford it and that includes alot of nurses. I am 54 and plan to retire as soon as I can. There are so many opportunities out there for nurses right now that need to be taken advantage of. And there is that percentage that won't make it for a variety of reasons. Nursing is not a glamorous job and you need to become a nurse for the right reasons. You gotta "work hard for the money"!:redbeathe:redbeathe
I have to agree with Flightline. There was an analyst on some business news program (Meredith Whitley or Whitney?) that said she would not be surprised if unemployment hit 40-50%! People DO NOT make statements like that simply to shock people. I'm just finishing up LVN school in the next few weeks and praying I'm able to get a job somewhere, anywhere in the country!
I'm going into nursing as a second career from the television production business where I worked in news for several years. People DO make statements like that for just that reason - shock value. That's why TV news exists - to provide news entertainment that will ensure that people watch again and again to hear the bad news. I tend to put more stock in articles in US News and World Report that point out that nursing is one of the top ten recession-proof jobs (along with funeral home directors.) Some of the current financial problems are flames fanned by sensational news reporting that convince people to sell out their stock before the market falls another 400 points - and THAT sell off causes a drop in stock prices.
I don't believe that there is a nursing shortage in all areas. Only those in nursing homes and bedside nursing are the most needed because no one wants to work in those places-except for foreign nurses who are required to sign contracts to be there in return for being able to work here in the US. It took me a long time to get a job in a clinic setting because there are not enough to go around.
I'm currently in an NP program and know for sure that there won't be an oversaturation of NPs anytime soon. Just look around for ads for NPs and you will always find plenty of them. So if you wanted to further your career, do so. The least you can get out of it is knowledge.
It has always been this way (at least for the last 25 years that I have been in nursing: recession - people who have nursing licenses go back to work to help pay the bills. Economy loosens up - they quit again. Goes in cycles......
I think if it ever gets to the point where hospitals expect nurses to take on assignments of 14 patients, nurses will not stay in the field. That's one of the reasons for any 'shortage'. The pay won't be that great either, if jobs are so scarce that management can get away with that. Who's going to want to work like that? Not me!
WHAT NURSING SHORTAGE????!!!! I graduated in August and am still trying to find a job. The only jobs out there are odd shifts and at crappy facilities.
Does that mean by the time I graduate in 2011 with an ADN I wont be able to find a job anywhere???
elilbitz
8 Posts
There are too many nurses out there already who are not in it as their calling ~ and have been throughout history. That is exactly what motivates me to get out there all the more! (2010) I wish 'to be the change'. (Ghandi, not Obama!)
Where I live wages are already low because it is a beach area where it is assumed people will settle for less money for the proximity to the ocean. My sister lives in a tiny little town in the midwest noone ever has heard of and the nurses there are making much more money than they are here in this fairly well known city with a higher rated cost of living. Some nurses here are already forced to take lower paying jobs and work shifts they don't want. Turn over rates are insane. Work conditions can be poor. There seems to be lots of nurses with axes to grind.
I'm a mid-life career changer and not looking for just a good paying job; I'm looking for a satisfying career. My fear is that there will be lots of lousy jobs out there. The shortage looks to lie within good positions. I could shovel cr*p all day if I work with good people and the conditions are good. But in bad conditions with overworked, negative coworkers, even the seemingly cushiest job is a grind.
What I'm coming to learn is that we as nurses have voices and have power to make changes in the field of health care. It is my understanding that it is actually part of our responsibility as nurses. I hope I am not alone in hoping to make a change for the better; that not everyone else out there is all take and no give.
Slightly jaded already, but still hopeful.