Extremely Upsetting!!!!!

[twinjeep97]

I am about to enter my 3rd year of nursing school. I have been set on BSN ever since I apllied for colleges.

However, it seems that people are making such a great deal on the "nursing shortage." I live in Ohio, and one of my professors said that they (Cleveland Clinic) once had to close down a floor because there were not enough nurses. Hopefully I will graduate in 2 years, but am worried I won't even be able to find a job.

Is it true that new grads are having to relocate??!! This is what people do in the business world, I didn't think nurses had to go across country to find a job.

I'm not arguing about "not getting enough money," but am wandering why nurses can't find jobs. Does anyone else have the same questions I do?

Thanks,

[steelcityrn, RN]

You will get a job near your home, there are plenty of choices as a nurse.

[Crux1024]

I can only speak for my area, but the issue is that YES there are jobs. The facilities however, dont have have the payroll to support the staff they need.

A lot of my just graduated class had to "settle" for jobs they otherwise had never considered. Hopefully things will be better when you graduate.

[SunnyAndrsn]

It appears that with the current economy, nursing is proving that it's not a "recession proof" career. However, I'll qualify that with this statement: It depends on your current location. I finished my RN last December, and it was very disheartening to be doing clinicals and externship in hospitals that were laying off and closing units :-( Especially when one of those was really where I wanted to be working.

Many of my classmates had difficulty finding a job, but as of this summer, most if not all are employed. Perhaps not in their dream job, prefered area of nursing...but employed. Opportunity will come with experience. I'm not in my dream job in a TCU/LTC facility, but I also did not have to work to find a job, as I started working as an LPN after my first year of school. Many of my classmates thought this was a mistake, however I'm now very glad I did.

It wasn't easy working full time and finishing nursing school, especially with a family member who had a health crisis in the middle of that last semester. BUT, Having the experience I did, I was able to get a part time job in home health, working with a pediatric pt, which is ultimately what I'd like to be doing.

I'm in the eastern Twin Cities, FWIW.

[rollyp80]

There are lots of jobs in Chicago

[Knoodsen]

"nursing shortage" means there are jobs available for nurses

[Freedom42]

Numerous studies suggest that in the coming decade, the United States will experience a severe shortage. Estimates range from 300,000 to 1 million, depending on the source of the research.

At the moment, however, there is a glut of nurses in many parts of the country. As the Wall Street Journal has reported, the nursing shortage is a sort of barometer of the economy. The worse the economy, the less the need for nurses. That's because when the economy goes south, nurses who haven't been working suddenly come out of the woodwork, looking for steady pay or a second income for their families. That means new grads have to compete with veterans for jobs, and it costs far less for a hospital to orient a veteran than a newbie. Also, many nurses already on the job have opted to postpone their retirements given the poor performance of the stock market over the past year. That means there aren't as many job openings as in years past. Another market indicator is in the number of elective procedures being postponed; for example, if you can't afford that knee replacement, you may decide to put it off for another year. A large hospital near me (in the Northeast) just let go 24 OR personnel because of the fall-off in demand for elective surgeries.

Some predict the job market will open up to nurses again as the economy improves. Others worry that nursing jobs are being permanently eliminated or "deskilled," with UAPs being brought in at lower rates of pay.

[greenfiremajick]

"with UAPs being brought in at lower rates of pay."

Excuse the ignorance, but what is a UAP??

[*LadyJane*]

UAP=Unlicensed assistive personnel

[Katnip, RN]

It depends on where you live. Right now the job market is tighter in most places, but it should soon change.

People in general are losing their jobs and their insurance so they aren't seeking healthcare like they normally would, and aren't going for elective surgeries, so hospitals are seeing lower census numbers and having to close down beds and units. Some, not all.

Once the economy picks up, nursing will follow.

A hospital can get by with only so many UAPs. As a matter of fact the ED where I used to work can't find decent techs so they rearranged things, and added nurses instead. They increased the ratio 6:1 from 4:1 but every 8-12 patients gets another nurse to help the primary nurse out.

My hospital just had its first layoffs, but all were in admin. If things continue the way they're going, we may start seeing more.

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

I can only speak for my area, but there's tons of jobs here. Hospitals are trying to recruit and grab up nurses like crazy. No one in my class, or the classes after me, had any difficulty at all finding a job, and most of us had multiple job offers. I had 4.

[peytonsmom]

I don't know about the Cleveland area, but I can tell you there is just about nothing here in Toledo. The jobs that are open are per diem and asking for 1-2 years experience. Even LTC jobs are few and far between. We're graduating so many RN's each year with UTMC, BG, Mercy, Owens, Lourdes and other schools in the surrounding areas that the market is just totally flooded. I'm holding on to hope that the recession will ease and places will be hiring new grads again by the time I graduate in two years!