Nursing Shortage

Julie, RN · Sep 10, 2000

Interesting article from CNN on the effects of the nursing shortage: http://www.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/09/09/medical.errors.ap/index.html

hollykate · Sep 10, 2000

As a relatively new grad, I will share my experience. No, you will not get your pick of what you can be paid. While experienced RN's can bargain, it is more difficult for those without experience to do so. Depending on what you are doing to support your schooling now, the salary they offer you will seem quite adequate. The difference between new grad staring pay in one geographic area are small.

Now, you do have a wider variety of areas of nursing open to you. It really depends on the hospitals you want to go to and where they are hiring new grads. I got offers for ICU and ED everywhere I went. My friend who wanted L & D did not get those offers.

Now I went to a hospital I knew because I was already an employee there- my friends went to another hospital where they could make a whopping .40 cents an hour more. Not suprisingly, it seems the hospital squeezed that out of them on every shift. Many of these people now work where I originally went. The idea here is that as a newbie, go where you feel you will get the absoloute best experience and support, not where you can get a little extra cash (now, sometimes they coincide, isn't that cool?) Once you get in it for a while, you will have a better idea of what you want. I wish you the best of luck and of ocurse, invite any of you to come and work for us, because we need you!!!!

Oh yes- Julie SN,that is a great article- I wish you would post it alone, so more people can see the link!!!!

oramar · Sep 10, 2000

Originally posted by Julie,SN:
Interesting article from CNN on the effects of the nursing shortage: http://www.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/09/09/medical.errors.ap/index.html

This is an interesting article. Nothing in it is a surprise to me, especially the parts where hospital managment types deny that a problem exist.

Lanae414 · Sep 11, 2000

Thanks you both for the helpful information. Also, that was a very interesting article. What would you say are the most available jobs in the hospital for new grads? ICU or just regular floor work? I know that I want to work for a children's hospital in Atlanta, but I also know that there is no guarantee about where I will end up. Did you take the first offer? And how long did it take for you to get an offer? Thanks again for all your helpful advice and information.

feminist nurse · Sep 11, 2000

For more info on the nursing shortage, go to www.califnurses.org

on their home page they have a running banner about the nursing shortage. If by the time you get there they have removed the running banner, I think you can also access the article from further down on their home page.

This site is THE BEST site for up to date nursing information! Bookmark it on to your favorites list!

by the way, I live in Phila

Temple hospital is paying per diem nurses up to $50/hr. Hahnemann hospital is paying per diems up to $49/hr. Experience a must.

I lived through the last nursing shortage of the 1980's. And it was HELL. The average age of the american nurse today is 46. We can't do the kind of hours, OT, and pt assignments that we did in the 80's. Many older nurses are fleeing the profession because no amount of money is worth the legal risks that poor staffing sets us up for.

I think our only hope is collective bargaining with our employers and then legislative clout that has come out of the Radical california nurses!

UNITED WE BARGAIN, DIVIDED WE BEG!!

oramar · Sep 12, 2000

Originally posted by feminist nurse:
For more info on the nursing shortage, go to www.califnurses.org

The average age of the american nurse today is 46. We can't do the kind of hours, OT, and pt assignments that we did in the 80's. Many older nurses are fleeing the profession because no amount of money is worth the legal risks that poor staffing sets us up for.

I am 52 years old. I left nursing completely 6 months ago for the reasons that are stated here. At the time, I felt so guilty and depressed about leaving that I could not even look at myself in the mirror. Apparently, I was part of a huge exodus that was taking place in hospitals all over the country. Reading the info on this Califnurse site helps me to feel better about my choice, however I feel terribly frightened for the patients and everyone who might someday be a patient, myself included.

[This message has been edited by oramar (edited September 11, 2000).]