nursing shortage is over?

LoveMyBugs, BSN, CNA, RN · Mar 30, 2010

Don't believe there ever was a "shortage" good to hear that the media is finally figuring that out.

Bill E. Rubin · Mar 30, 2010

There was a shortage... Even the class before mine (I graduated in May 2008) had no troubles finding jobs, usually doing what they wanted where they wanted (though it was hard to find jobs in L&D). There will be a shortage again in the future, as this has always been cyclical and more boomers will retire (and more will need hospitalization). That doesn't help the people looking for jobs now, but the present glut of nurses looking for jobs is a temporary thing.

TonyaM73, ASN, RN · Mar 30, 2010

I graduated in August and got my RN licence soon after. It took me 3 months to find a job. I applied to all of the hospitals for any position in my area. I received NO call backs or interviews in the entire 3 months until I applied at a LTC facility. Many of my class mates had to wait 6 months or more with continual searching to find a job and almost 1/3 of my class had to go about 1 1/2 hr away to find a job in a hospital. One week is not so very long to wait to hear back from an employer in this economy, but it is VERY difficult to find a job in a hospital if you are a new nurse and/or do not have your BS RN. Even some of the new grad BS RNs on here are finding it hard to find a job in the hospitals. Not to discourage you. Keep trying, but you will definatley need to pull out your "patients" card in this hiring environment.

PMFB-RN, RN · Mar 30, 2010

There was never a shortage of nurses. Just a shortage of people willing to work for the current pay and working conditions. Now other fields are not looking so good and that makes more people willing to work as nurses.

PMFB-RN, RN · Mar 30, 2010

but it is VERY difficult to find a job in a hospital if you are a new nurse and/or do not have your BS RN. Even some of the new grad BS RNs on here are finding it hard to find a job in the hospitals. Not to discourage you.

*** At the large trauma center where i work they have a Critical Care Nurse Residency program for new grads who want to work in specialty units. For almost two years they have not been hiring new grads with BSNs into to SICU. ADN nurses only, BSNs not welcome to apply. It doesn't say anyplace they are not hired on the literature, but they are not. They only hire 2-4 a year so it's not very many anyway. I know one other unit doing the same thing.

SoldierNurse22, BSN, RN · Mar 30, 2010

There's a shortage and it's only getting worse. In addition to the lack of people willling to work in the nursing field, you've got the aging baby boomer generation, which is going to cut the number of nurses and increase the number of patients. You've also got the crappy economy, which is keeping hospitals from hiring the number of RN's they should have. The problem now is lack of jobs in a workplace that desperately needs more nurses. Great situation.

caliotter3 · Mar 30, 2010

CA has never had a nursing shortage as far as I'm concerned. I refuse to believe the nursing shortage "tales". When people have to move around the state like nomads looking for work, there is no nursing shortage. What there is a shortage of in CA, is jobs for nurses who want to work.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Mar 30, 2010

It's a multifaceted issue. There's actually a surplus of too many nurses at the present time, with not enough jobs to go around for every nurse who would like to work. Currently, nurses are being affected by the slumping economy. Contrary to popular belief, nursing is certainly NOT recession-proof.

During the recession of the early 1990s, some nurses would remain unemployed for 6 months or longer as they looked for jobs. This severe nursing glut continued well into the middle 1990s.

During recessions, patients avoid having elective surgeries because they are fearful of taking the time off work that is needed for full recovery, which results in low hospital census. When hospital census is low, less nurses are needed to keep the floor running.

More people become unemployed during these rough times and, as a result, lose their health insurance. Uninsured people are definitely not inclined to seek healthcare unless it is an absolute emergency. In addition, medical bills incurred by uninsured patients tend to go unpaid, which means less money for healthcare facilities. If healthcare facilities are generating less revenue, this results in less money available to pay staff.

Although it is an accurate statement that nursing jobs can never be outsourced, always remember that nurses can be "insourced" by recruiting foreign nurses to work at US hospitals. These nurses are less likely to whine about working evenings, nights, weekends, and holidays because they are earning more money in America than they ever would in their country of origin.

Masses of part-time and/or inactive nurses accept full-time positions during recessions to keep their households afloat when a breadwinner spouse loses his/her job without notice. Plenty of retired nurses are reactivating their nursing licenses and returning to the nursing workforce due to the effects of rapidly dwindling retirement funds.

This is just some food for thought. While this phenomenon might not apply to your region, it is certainly happening in many places across the nation.

Househead4life · Mar 30, 2010

It's a multifaceted issue. There's actually a surplus of too many nurses at the present time, with not enough jobs to go around for every nurse who would like to work. Currently, nurses are being affected by the slumping economy. Contrary to popular belief, nursing is certainly NOT recession-proof.
During the recession of the early 1990s, some nurses would remain unemployed for 6 months or longer as they looked for jobs. This severe nursing glut continued well into the middle 1990s.
During recessions, patients avoid having elective surgeries because they are fearful of taking the time off work that is needed for full recovery, which results in low hospital census. When hospital census is low, less nurses are needed to keep the floor running.
More people become unemployed during these rough times and, as a result, lose their health insurance. Uninsured people are definitely not inclined to seek healthcare unless it is an absolute emergency. In addition, medical bills incurred by uninsured patients tend to go unpaid, which means less money for healthcare facilities. If healthcare facilities are generating less revenue, this results in less money available to pay staff.
Although it is an accurate statement that nursing jobs can never be outsourced, always remember that nurses can be "insourced" by recruiting foreign nurses to work at US hospitals. These nurses are less likely to whine about working evenings, nights, weekends, and holidays because they are earning more money in America than they ever would in their country of origin.
Masses of part-time and/or inactive nurses accept full-time positions during recessions to keep their households afloat when a breadwinner spouse loses his/her job without notice. Plenty of retired nurses are reactivating their nursing licenses and returning to the nursing workforce due to the effects of rapidly dwindling retirement funds.
This is just some food for thought. While this phenomenon might not apply to your region, it is certainly happening in many places across the nation.

That is a big problem in Michigan.

caliotter3 · Mar 30, 2010

That is a big problem in Michigan.

As in CA. One can go to facilities where the entire employee population is 80% to 90% from one or more of the countries that export nurses to the US. Not necessarily a place where one can get a job if one does not fit in.

airborneinf82, BSN · Mar 30, 2010

*** At the large trauma center where i work they have a Critical Care Nurse Residency program for new grads who want to work in specialty units. For almost two years they have not been hiring new grads with BSNs into to SICU. ADN nurses only, BSNs not welcome to apply. It doesn't say anyplace they are not hired on the literature, but they are not. They only hire 2-4 a year so it's not very many anyway. I know one other unit doing the same thing.

They won't hire BSNs but will ADN? That seems backwards. You know their reasoning for this?