Is there REALLY a nursing shortage?

Nurses General Nursing

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This is an interesting article guys/gals...

Here's the letter I wrote to the President, Vice-President, U.S. Congress Rep. and Senator:

"I'm an R.N. and I recently started working as an agency nurse because the pay is so much better and the hours are very flexible. The hospital system in my area that uses most of the agency nurses is in the process of hiring foreign labor to cut costs and fill positions. I read an article, "Is there REALLY a nursing shortage?" by Richard Armstrong and what he said really concerned me. It is true that American jobs are going overseas and there are over 8 million Americans out of work. People who go to school for certain professions do not have jobs when they graduate. Where is the AMERICAN DREAM going??? I realize our country is a melting pot and all, but what about OUR JOBS for US HERE???!!!

Please abolish the H-1B program. Americans need to demand that employers not be allowed to replace American workers with foreigners... I'm finally not living paycheck to paycheck as a nurse and I'm finally able to get ahead... But now there is this big black cloud looming over my head and it's full of foreign nurses trying to get out of THEIR country to take MY job. :( Why are you letting this happen to your fellow Americans???

Sincerely,

Marie L. Schultz

Shreveport, Louisiana"

I don't know if it will help or not, but I figured it was worth a try. Nurses from India, Africa and Thailand (among others) are coming to the Shreveport area to fill gaps of this so-called nursing shortage so that the hospital system I work at won't have to use agency nurses. Instead of paying American nurses better... this is what is happening. Nice. Very nice.

Do you see this happening where YOU are??? I just started working agency and that's all I'm doing right now. I love it. I just started April 19th, 2004 and here it is... not one month later and 15 foreigners are starting in the next week or so as a "pilot" for the other 3 hospitals of this hospital chain. This hospital chain uses most agency nurses here in Shreveport. They're trying to get rid of agency nurses all together by using these other nurses.

Again I ask: Do you see this happening where YOU are???

Thanks in advance. :o :angryfire

Specializes in Rural.

I work in a small CAH with a staff of 6 full time RNs, three PRN RN's and two LPNs. We have not had to advertise for a post for over 6 years, had a nurse move on recently and have so far not been able to replace her regardless of ads in multiple newspapers. - so what does this say - nursing shortage yes or no?

I need a school that offer LPN in illinios please help

The Only Answer for Better pay and Working conditions(Safety-think issues like Floating and mandatory OT) for most nurses is Unionization. Until that happens the posts will continue to read as most do here,,,,:o

*** I live in central Wisconsin. As far as I can tell there is no nursing shortage at all, at least not in this area. If I were a nurse recruiter from a real shortage area I would head to central Wisconsin.

I am a new grad and I live in central Wisconsin, too. I have not been able to get anything but a med-surg job...and there aren't that many of them available up here, either. I wanted an ICU job and have read quite a few articles about how easy it is, these days, for new grads to get them. So, when I started my job search, I was very surprised to see how few ICU jobs were available up here, and at each one I applied to, I was told "we need you to have a year of med-surg experience".

Bottom line: I'm moving out of this area of the country as soon as possible.

Does anyone know of any areas of the country I could move to, where a new grad can get an ICU job?

Thanks!

Specializes in Accepted...Master's Entry Program, 2008!.
I need a school that offer LPN in illinios please help

Where in IL? If Chicago, look at the City Colleges.

The City Colleges of Chicago Welcomes You

The Only Answer for Better pay and Working conditions(Safety-think issues like Floating and mandatory OT) for most nurses is Unionization. Until that happens the posts will continue to read as most do here,,,,:o

I am pretty anti-union myself traveler, if you want them go for it. I would rather negotiate on my own terms. There is only one union hospital I know of here in Albuquerque and it is the lowest paid with the worst patient/staff ratios. You pay them your dues for what would appear to be nothing, what I would call legalized extortion. Just my dos centavos.

Specializes in Utilization Management.
I am a new grad and I live in central Wisconsin, too. I have not been able to get anything but a med-surg job...and there aren't that many of them available up here, either. I wanted an ICU job and have read quite a few articles about how easy it is, these days, for new grads to get them. So, when I started my job search, I was very surprised to see how few ICU jobs were available up here, and at each one I applied to, I was told "we need you to have a year of med-surg experience".

Bottom line: I'm moving out of this area of the country as soon as possible.

Does anyone know of any areas of the country I could move to, where a new grad can get an ICU job?

Thanks!

First off, welcome to Allnurses!

Second, I think you'd probably be better off to start a new thread instead of burying your question inside a thread about something else.

Third, I know where there are lots of jobs, but you might not care for the salary or conditions, so be careful. Try to check out places before you leap.

Best wishes, keep us updated!

all of you are scaring me. I m still a nursing student and I have 3 semesters left. I switched out of my 3rd year in pharmacy to do nursing because I didnt wanna push pills all day. Maybe I should switch back. I wanna help people and still have a stable and decent job, but from what you all saypretty much everything I have been told about nursing is a lie. Their really isn't a shortage, the job is by far unstable, and you can't really help much of anybody because u spend ln day in front of a comp... seriously I shoulda stuck with pharmacy

I live in long island NY and I dont think there is a nursing shortage here! I've been trying to land a job as an RN and am still jobless! To think some hospitals are even recruiting from other countries and still go through the long process of migration papers!!! Isnt it ironical? I think nursing is becoming more of a business to these recruiters without thinking that the market will soon be saturated and then what will happen to those nurses from other coutries who brought their families w/them? Welcome to the rat race!

Yes, this is true.

We have a huge revolving door in our hospital, but there is never a shortage of agency nurses to fill those holes. We can't get nurses to stay much past their orientation, oftentimes not even completing orientation, before quitting.

When will hospital administrators wake up. Treat nurses with respect, pay isn't minimum wage, but the patients lives are in our hands....do we get paid accordingly? No we don't. Nurses are nasty to each otherr because they are disgruntled by the bunch...

and what about do no harm?? isn't it applicable to all....administration and the way they treat nurses, nurses...the way they treat other nurses, not to mention our oath....if we aren't being treated well, respected, then who ultimately suffers? The patient does. Isn't that our goal? I thought so but quit hospital nursing because of the abuse, and I couldn't stand to see the patients suffer because of "the shortage" that the hospital wanted you to understand, when there are plenty of nurses out there to be called in...they don't want to pay the OT.

We don't all believe the "shortage".

Specializes in Critical Care.

From my perspective, it has seemed over the last nearly 30 years of career that there has always been a nursing shortage in some part of the country, but not everywhere. That location seems to have been a bit fluid, moving from region to region. I have always been able to find work, but have had to be willing to move to where there were jobs.

What does everyone consider to be a good wage? Sure, we would all love to be making $35/hour. I don't think that is reasonable, though. There is another thread in AllNurses where many are bemoaning the myth of insurance. Face it, medicine IS a business, from insurance right down to every bandaid sold at WalMart. If all nurses made $35/hour plus got all sorts of overtime at that wage, then what do you think the cost of Insurance would do then? What do you think Medicare would do/cover then? Everyone wants the newest, latest and greatest that is out there, whether it be the latest new car or the latest gene therapy that will cure their wrinkles. I am not so sure that is too realistic. Yup, lots of people have had awful managers, worked for horrible corporations, the lot. Me too. But there are good hospitals out there that pay reasonable wages and treat their staff fairly and with respect. I work for one at the moment. Will it be exactly the same in 1, 2, 5 years from now? No idea. No guarantee about anything in life, sorry.

New grads, there are jobs out there. Rare is the hospital that will hire you in ICU right out of school. It does still happen, but not as often as it did for a while. When I graduated, and for many years afterwards, NO ONE got to work in ICU unless you had at least 1-2 years in Med Surg first. The belief was that you learned to fine tune your nursing skills, assessment skills, and overall knowledge base before you advance your practice to the ICU level. It turned into a bit of a proving ground as well. If you couldn't do well at the basics, they weren't going to give you the hard stuff.

I agree with the OP, do your homework. There are plenty of jobs out there, or recruiters would not be working so hard at finding nurses to place. Lots of people do not want to work in a rural area where you might only earn $18/hour. Where I am at the moment, we took a 40% cut in pay to move here. Cost of living - about 40% less than in CA where we were. Still have the same amount of cashola to work with overall. There is a lot of things to consider when job hunting, and quality of life is a big one. A lot of people could not dream of living in a remote area. Whatever you chose to do today is not what you have to keep doing tomorrow. Give something a try, and if it's not you then move to what is.

Good luck!!!

Thank you blue hair. That's the most honest assesment of any work enviroment in any field that I've seen in awhile.

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