Is there still a nursing shortage?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Seems like some people on here have had trouble finding their first jobs, some find them before they even graduated. News and articles frequently state there is...I'm very confused! What is everyone's personal experience finding a job or what have you heard?

Imagine you are at a family reunion and your great-aunt asks where that nice by Larry you have been dating is. You tell her you and Larry broke up years ago and don't mention that she asked you the same question last year. Replace the Larry question with "nursing shortage".

Sometimes old news has a way of sticking and taking time to clear up.

There was once a prediction of a vast nursing shortage.

This prediction was made years ago when it when middle skilled jobs were plentiful and job security was a given.

In most places there is no shortage.

The job market is always shifting. Predict a nursing shortage, and a new class of medical workers called MAs comes into existence and displaces nurses from working in doctors' offices. Who knows what the future brings?

Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

In my 40 years of nursing, I have noticed one consistency. There is a relative shortage of nurses when the economy is good, and an oversupply when the economy is tanked.

My theory is that this is related to nurses who are also moms and/ or work a second job because of a spouse's lower / less stable income. Economy good- they don't need the extra income and stay home/ work part-time. Economy is bad and they are in the workforce.

Again- my theory only- but I have seen this cycle over and over since the late 70s.

In my 40 years of nursing, I have noticed one consistency. There is a relative shortage of nurses when the economy is good, and an oversupply when the economy is tanked.

My theory is that this is related to nurses who are also moms and/ or work a second job because of a spouse's lower / less stable income. Economy good- they don't need the extra income and stay home/ work part-time. Economy is bad and they are in the workforce.

Again- my theory only- but I have seen this cycle over and over since the late 70s.

I have read about this phenomenon in an article recently. There's so many things to keep in mind. I'd say for the most part what draws people to nursing is the apparent job security. As soon as a recession comes along everyone flocks to it, when it wears down, they all disappear. I also read factors such as, retention rate which is 9%-37% in the occupation effect the sometimes lack of nurses.

Imagine you are at a family reunion and your great-aunt asks where that nice by Larry you have been dating is. You tell her you and Larry broke up years ago and don't mention that she asked you the same question last year. Replace the Larry question with "nursing shortage".

Sometimes old news has a way of sticking and taking time to clear up.

There was once a prediction of a vast nursing shortage.

This prediction was made years ago when it when middle skilled jobs were plentiful and job security was a given.

In most places there is no shortage.

The job market is always shifting. Predict a nursing shortage, and a new class of medical workers called MAs comes into existence and displaces nurses from working in doctors' offices. Who knows what the future brings?

Seems like some places have the complete opposite doesn't it? An ultra supply of nurses vs. jobs available. However, for the most part from what I have done my research on, it's new grads that struggle. Experienced nurses do not seem to ever have issues finding work unless they are super picky. I'm sure states in the country like NY and SoCal... have so much competition...

Specializes in NICU.

There are some areas that are oversaturated with new grad nurses (California and NYC). There are other cities that a new grad can get a job pretty easily after passing NCLEX. They may not be in the most desirable location, but if you put in a couple years in you can move to a more desirable location. Some new grads are willing to do it and some are not.

Short answer, no. There are some issues with distribution of nurses (too many nurses in some parts of the country, too few in others), but, overall, there is no "shortage." There hasn't been for a long time. The federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), one of the government agencies that tracks healthcare personnel, is predicting a US nursing surplus through at least 2025.

Depends where you look and how hard you are willing to work. Two years ago I was hired right after school in a good hospital, but I had paid my dues there as it were as a CNA. A year ago there were several openings I was interested in but did not pursue, one was an ICU setting and one was a subacute rehab setting. If you cast the net wide, you'll have options. I feel like I always see openings for renal, ortho, etc. I had to limit myself to a 90 minute radius but I was very fortunate to be hired where I was as a new grad. If you don't have to do that it will be easier.

Its been easier in my area lately, thank god because it was rough form 2008-2014 for any new grads. All recent graduates I know got jobs in hospitals without working there before, connections, etc. More floor RNs becoming NPs, more hospitals being built, the MA shortage is putting way more nurses in clinics, so hospitals have been hiring more and more. Even saw sign on bonuses the other day.

Specializes in Pediatrics.

I think it largely depends on where you live. If you live in a rural, isolated area, most likely there is a nursing shortage. Urban areas are often either over-saturated or a severe shortage depending on the living conditions of the area and the cost of living. Where I live, which is your typical suburban area, it fluctuates. Some years there is a mild shortage, but most years it is pretty saturated.

Depends on how you define "nursing shortage" and or where you are seeking employment.

Survey: Nearly half of nurses might leave the profession

| Healthcare Dive

Here in New York predictions are now that in a decade or so there will be a glut of professional nurses. Out in Long Island where hospitals say there is a "nursing shortage" it mirrors what places say elsewhere in the USA; they cannot find seasoned professional nurses

with substantial experience in certain practices or specialties. Nursing shortage forces LI hospitals to offer in-house training | Newsday

New grads? That many parts of the country have in spades, and as such yes, it can be difficult for a newly licensed RN

to find that first hospital job.

Areas where there truly is a "nursing shortage" usually have other factors that affect the overall general labor market.

Things like wages, geographic location, lifestyle and so forth.

Poor, rural, and other areas that lack the glamour of say New York City or San Francisco are lacking for all sorts of labor (and more and more residents as well), are at a disadvantage for attracting and retaining out of area nurses. Worse the local population does not produce enough new graduates.

Atlanta is a growing "hot" area as companies and industry move to Georgia, but they apparently are having a hard time finding nurses: Georgia has too few nurses, and the problem could get much worse | News | gwinnettdailypost.com

Unlike say med students who may expect to practice somewhere other than where they went to school and or do post graduate training; a majority of professional nurses prefer to remain where they went to school, which is often where they live. As such you end up with these imbalances; places like New York City area have vastly more nurses than jobs, meanwhile Bismarck, ND cannot find and keep them.

I live and work in the Central / Mid-Michigan area (Saginaw, Bay City, Midland). Nurses are definitely needed (most places want experience, but Covenant and St. Mary's will take new nurses - you have to prove yourself though, and of course the skilled nursing facilities are always hiring). Saginaw and Flint are a shadow though from their former glory as WWII and Automotive powerhouses... so the area is livable, but Saginaw and Flint are pretty crappy as a town. But a lot of nurses are needed in the area, pay is around $24-26 or so in the hospitals around Saginaw. I work at a Skilled Nursing Facility and I'm over $30 an hour as a new RN. There's a hospital group that has their base of operations inside of Covenant in Saginaw, and they're always hiring it seems, and paying $5000 bonuses (they even have open interview days sometimes), they're also located in Flint. Select Specialty... they're typically a long-term Med-Surg/ICU with vents for their patients.

Flint has several hospitals, and I'm sure they're probably hiring a lot too... there's a least one nursing home around the flint area that I saw advertisements for walk in interviews for the CNAs, so take your risk....

+ Add a Comment