Do We Need More Nurses?

[wanna_be]

I decided I wanted to become a nurse seven years ago. It was the only thing that gave my life direction. I was a high school dropout and a selfish, unmotivated twenty-year-old, and the minute someone said, "I think you'd make a great nurse" that all changed. The same person also told me that there was a dire need for nurses, especially in the rural area where they worked. It took me a long time to pull myself up by my bootstraps, raise my GPA and earn my prerequisites. I never lost sight of my goal, though. I finished one undergraduate degree in public health and worked for two years before entering a BSN program. By now, times have changed. With the financial crisis, many folks returned to school to become an R.N. because they were also told there was a need, or they needed a financially stable second career. Every time I go to a coffee shop to study there's always another nursing student from some other nursing school studying there as well. The way schools are turning out new nurses is frightening. With a few months left until I graduate, I'm terrified. Did I make a huge [twenty-thousand dollar] mistake? Yes, this is still an incredibly fulfilling path for me. But, am I needed? It seems now there is also a trend for new grads to go directly on to NP school...I'd originally hoped to continue on to become an FNP, but even that seems like a saturated field now. Not even hopefully that I'll find a job a an RN after graduation, and even if I do, it seems that new nurses are now a dime a dozen...if I wanted to make a difference in the world, I'm beginning to think I should've gone a different route. Ugh.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

Do we need more nurses? Yes, because nurse to patient ratios in many facilities are borderline unsafe or downright unsafe. The only state that does have mandated ratios is California. However, the fact that ratios are unsafe doesn't mean that facilities are hiring nurses; in fact, many are posting positions that aren't intended to be filled or never posting positions that nurses leave. What that means is that there are many more applicants than positions to fill.

That doesn't mean it's impossible to find a job as a new grad without experience; it just isn't as easy as it was when there was a true nursing shortage and facilities were desperate. Here's a few tips you can use to help find that elusive first job:

1. Branch out. Many nursing students want to work in an acute care facility (hospital). However, jobs can also be found in home health, long term care facilities, skilled nursing facilities, and many other areas outside of acute care hospitals.

2. Join professional organizations and attend your local meetings. Sometimes it's more about who you know than what you know that can help with getting a job, particularly when as a new grad you are pretty much on equal footing with every other new grad.

3. If you aren't already, look for a job in health care. This can be a CNA, patient care assistant, unit secretary, or other unlicensed assistive personnel position you qualify for. This will allow you to establish an employment history with a facility who may become your employer as a nurse, plus also open up access to internal applicant positions.

If you head over to the first nursing job forum, you'll find some other ideas as well.

[Surprised1, MSN, RN]

My hospital is desperate for nurses. We are understaffed and have many open positions. The managers are eager for applicants and hiring left and right. I'm in the South, by the way. I can't speak for other parts of the nation or outside of the U.S.

Sent from my iPhone using allnurses

[HopefulRN4]

In states where the pay is higher, there is a surplus of RN

[wanna_be]

That's good to know, HopefulRN4. I live in a metro area in a state where nurses are a dime a dozen, but I'd be willing to move to nearby states (such as NM) if there is a need.

[ThePrincessBride, MSN, RN, NP]

It is a little late to be asking this question, don't you think?

No. America does not need any more nurses amd hasn't for awhile. However, if every state followed Cali's suit and legally mandated nurse:patient ratios, things would be better in the market. Also, if all these for-profit and un accredited schools were shut down, there would probably be a nursing shortage.

[Jules A, MSN]

Yes we do need nurses, who actually want to be nurses! Not just bright, adorable, entitled little 20 somethings who want to climb the educational ladder as fast as possible in an effort to get away from the bedside.

[Surprised1, MSN, RN]

Yes we do need nurses, who actually want to be nurses! Not just bright, adorable, entitled little 20 somethings who want to climb the educational ladder as fast as possible in an effort to get away from the bedside.

This is actually the reason for the dearth of nurses at my hospital. We hire new grads, who proceed go to NP school either straight after graduation, or within 2-3 years.

Sent from my iPhone using allnurses

[klone, MSN, RN]

I love that you used the word "dearth". I'm also fond of "paucity".

[Surprised1, MSN, RN]

I love that you used the word "dearth". I'm also fond of "paucity".

Ooh, good one!! Are you a word nerd, too? Wanna be friends?

Sent from my iPhone using allnurses

[NOADLS]

Nursing schools: "we need more nurses [money]"

New grads: "can I has the full time job after graduation plz"

Reality: *slap*

[klone, MSN, RN]

Ooh, good one!! Are you a word nerd, too? Wanna be friends?

Yay, word nerds!