Help! Effect of nursing shortage on nursing management and leadership

DixieRedHead, ASN, RN · Feb 18, 2012

Well, I read your previous post and take high exception to your remark about "uneducated posts".

I am an administrative nurse. So perhaps my perspective can enlighten you.

1. There IS no nursing shortage.

2. In most instances it is not the nursing school that limits the number of enrollees but the state boards of nursing.

3. The rise in elderly population does indeed dictate more nurses, however that is not happening. Nurses are being assigned more patients to care for to save the almighty dollar. Nurses go begging for jobs. The jobs aren't there.

4. My lowly ADN degree has served me well, and I have a management job due the skills I possess and the continued learning I have done.

Why on earth would you ask for help and then turn around and be snotty to those you are asking for help? Do you actually think that there is a new BSN graduate on earth that could lead or manage better than an ADN with 20 years of experience in many and varied aspects of nursing.

That being said, I hope you don't expect further help with your "homework". Because you won't get it here with an attitude like that.

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Feb 18, 2012

There is no nursing shortage.

Medscape: Medscape Access requires registration but it is free and is a good resource.

[h=3]The Big Lie?[/h]Without a doubt, the main source of frustration experienced by recently graduated and licensed but still unemployed nurses is what could be called "the big lie."In other words, the television commercials that encourage young people to become nurses -- and then abandon them for months (or years) without employment; and the educators who tell them that the associate's degree is perfectly adequate to guarantee employment, that they will have their pick of jobs when they graduate, and that there is plenty of time to get a BSN later on. Who knows whether it is greed, ignorance, or wishful thinking that underlies the fairy tales told to nursing students about their future job prospects? Whatever the motivation, the disillusionment of our new grads is palpable. The jobs they expected after all of their hard work just haven't materialized, and some grads are getting pretty desperate.

https://allnurses.com/nursing-activism-healthcare/what-keeping-new-663383.html

The shortage that is reported to exist does not exist. There are school churning out grads and no positions. Hospitals are not hiring, especially new grads, due to cost cuts. Nurses aren't leaving the profession due to the economy as their spouses are unemployed or have returned to the workforce because their SO is unemployed. Long term will hire new "BSN" grads for management because they are cheap. It is VERY difficult to have nurses active in the field talk to you about a subject that does not exist. It has been my experience that hospitals are "laying off" the senior nurses to hire the new grads because they are cheaper. Managers are being given 2 and 3 departements to manager to save costs. There are hiring freezes and nurses are having to do more with less staff. So the other thread may not have been helpful because their experience is vastly different from what you are proposing.

Good luck with your paper, I'm sorry I can be of no help.

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Feb 18, 2012

.

the funny thing about statistics are that they can be manipulated to show what ever is wished. here is an employment link. there are some amazing statistics here too.

nurses schools, salaries, and job data

nurses schools and degrees

more than 700 nursing programs offering bachelor’s degree of science in nursing are available in the u.s. an associate’s degree or diploma in nursing should also be sufficient to enter this profession. several accelerated courses in nursing, which take about 18 months to complete, are also available. however, these courses are for those who already have a degree and wish to earn quick entry into the profession. at least 56% of nurses had a degree of four or more years. about 43% of workers had some college below a bachelor's degree. an estimated 1% of employees had just a high-school diploma.

nurses by metropolitan area (city and its surroundings)

in the table below, a job density near 0% means the area has an average number of people in this occupation, for its population. a higher or lower job density (e.g., +22% or -45%) tells you there are that many more or fewer workers of that type there than in the average us metro area. so, the higher the number, the more common the occupation. one example.

maryland

[table=class: cms_table, width: 100%]

[tr]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]baltimore[/td]

[td=align: right]$75,000[/td]

[td=align: right]30,810[/td]

[td=align: right]+19%[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]bethesda[/td]

[td=align: right]$80,000[/td]

[td=align: right]9,460[/td]

[td=align: right]-16%[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]cumberland[/td]

[td=align: right]$55,000[/td]

[td=align: right]1,400[/td]

[td=align: right]+138%[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]hagerstown[/td]

[td=align: right]$60,000[/td]

[td=align: right]1,990[/td]

[td=align: right]+10%[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]salisbury[/td]

[td=align: right]$67,000[/td]

[td=align: right]1,330[/td]

[td=align: right]+47[/td]

[/tr]

[/table]

Columnist · Feb 18, 2012

I have moved your thread to the Nursing Student Assistance forum. This is the best place to post for help with assignments.

Good luck with your paper.

allnurses Guide · Feb 19, 2012

There was nothing incorrect about the replies you've already gotten but I'm going to give you links to the most current research on the subject done by Peter Buerhaus and David Auerbach. If you do your own research on Peter Buerhaus especially you will probably come to the conclusion that you need to broaden your sources of information before you make declarations about the level of other people's education. He is the guy the nursing academic cabal generally cite as an authority in their nursing shortage claims, so it's going to be pretty hard for them to now discredit him.

One example:

Rather than a steady decline as previously projected, the nurse workforce is now expected to grow at roughly the same rate as the population through 2030.

Study finds more young people becoming nurses | Research News @ Vanderbilt | Vanderbilt University

Registered Nurse Supply Grows Faster Than Projected Amid Surge In New Entrants Ages 23

purpletouch · Feb 19, 2012

first of all i don't understand and don't appreciate why people here take so much offense of what i've posted.

the things that i stated regarding the shortage are something that i didn't made up or assumed on my own.

i got most of them from AACN American Association of Colleges of Nursing | Nursing Shortage.

I didn't put up this post to argue whether the shortage does exist or not.

Also, concerning with nursing management and leadership. I don't think i'm being clear that the reason i'm mentioning it together nursing shortage is because in my paper i have to somehow tie those two together.

So i was thinking leadership and management does not soley rest on high management or administrative positions, that registered nurses could also practice this two while giving patient care at the bedside.

Why I'm concern only with nurses with a baccalaureate degree is because that is the scope of my paper.

What's so offensive about that. what's with the comments what universe do you live in or you won't get further help with an attitude like that. who in their right mind wouldn't be offended with comments like that when all they're talking about in their post is simply something discussed in class hopefully this font is large enough to get that point across.

purpletouch · Feb 19, 2012

i see thanks.

i'm getting my facts from AACN American Association of Colleges of Nursing | Nursing Shortage

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Feb 19, 2012

well, we are offended by you defensive absolute rejection of the reality in the situation. new grads can't find jobs. search this site, it will help you see the real situation out there right now. we can't help you because what you are looking for isn't the experience out there in the health care sector. aacn has based their figures not on actual nursing vacancies but on "projected" vacancies that not longer exist because the economy dumped. i am skeptical about data that can directly benefit the collector of that data. if i was employed by the college of nursing.......you bet you sweet patootie i'd be promoting enrollment. as i have said before, data can be manipulated to portray whatever the collector wishes.

"the united states is projected to have a nursing shortage that is expected to intensify as baby boomers age and the need for health care grows. compounding the problem is the fact that nursing colleges and universities across the country are struggling to expand enrollment levels to meet the rising demand for nursing care"

key word there is "projected". it didn't happen, us baby boomers remain employed because we lost our 401k's when the stock market dumped. because of our impending retirement and advanced age, many of us had aggressive mutual funds, as advised by many of these financial geniuses:bugeyes:, because we we close to retiring. well, now most of us can't retire.

it also doesn't exist because the "shortage" was calculated for mandated staffing on a national level by nurses that counted on the need for increased nurses based on the staffing model. mandated staffing has not occurred and most likely won't happen for many more years to come. those vacancies don't exist.

the ana has changed their stance slightly about the nursing shortage and has stated that the shortage is coming or will be renewed in the coming years......"the median age of nurses is 46. more than 50% of the nursing workforce is close to retirement. america is seeing vast increases in the number of people over 65. this age group has many medical and health needs, and will put a strain on our health system. recent reforms in health care will give millions of people access to the healthcare system. more nurses and health professionals are needed in response. these factors, combined with an anticipated strengthening of the economy, will create a renewed critical shortage for nurses."

renewed critical shortage because there is no shortage now. nursing shortage (from your source.)

even the aacn concedes that:

the tri-council for nursing released a joint statement on recent registered nurse supply and demand projections, which cautioned stakeholders about declaring an end to the nursing shortage. the downturn in the economy has lead to an easing of the shortage in many parts of the country, a recent development most analysts believe to be temporary. in the joint statement, the tri-council raises serious concerns about slowing the production of rns given the projected demand for nursing services, particularly in light of healthcare reform. see www.aacn.nche.edu/media/newsreleases/2010/tricouncil.html.

the aacn goes on to say: "in a statement released in march 2008 (before everything went down the drain), the council on physician and nurse supply, an independent group of health care leaders based at the university of pennsylvania, has determined that 30,000 additional nurses should be graduated annually to meet the nation's healthcare needs, an expansion of 30% over the current number of annual nurse graduates.

according to a report released by the american hospital association in july 2007, u.s. ( long before everything crashed) hospitals need approximately 116,000 rs to fill vacant positions nationwide. this translates into a national rn vacancy rate of 8.1%. the report, titled the 2007 state of america's hospitals - taking the pulse, also found that 44% of hospital ceos had more difficulty recruiting rns in 2006 than in 2005. (ah.....the good ole days. sign on bonuses, retainment bonuses and advertising for new grads and great orientation programs, all but gone now)

based on finding from the nursing management aging workforce survey released in july 2006 by the bernard hodes group, 55% of surveyed nurses reported their intention to retire between 2011 and 2020. the majority of those surveyed were nurse managers." in july of 2006 i was sitting pretty thinking i was pretty well off for retirement, boy was i wrong. :bluecry1: in july of 2006 hospitals were not laying off hundreds of nurses.

more than 700 nursing programs offering bachelor’s degree of science in nursing but their education may be lacking......does nursing education prepare nurses for the real world? in a descriptive survey design, candela and bowlesasked 352 recent nursing school graduates how well their educational programs had prepared them for their first jobs as registered nurses, and what, if any, did they identify as the inadequacies in their education? these recent graduates said they were inadequately prepared in pharmacology, clinical practice, leadership, and the use of patient electronic medical records. most believed that their programs prepared them more for success on the nclex-rn exam than for practice. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/736236_6 as i mentioned before medscape requires registration but it is free and is an excellent resource.

what is keeping new grads/less experienced nurses from being hired and solutions?

https://allnurses.com/nursing-activism-healthcare/what-keeping-new-663383.html

the big lie?

losing our skills

the holy grail

take a job, any job

get out of the hospital

back to school?

does uncle sam want you?

feel like a little golf?

give us a chance

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/755051?src=top10

another reason the shortage is that the aacn and the ana also support safe staffing bill that will allow the importation on nurses form "regulated" countries deemed most in need by our government (now there's something i trust:bugeyes:) to further glut the market and cause a further decrease in demand and lower salaries for nurses here.

"(a) increasing visa numbers- section 106 of the american competitiveness in the twenty-first century act of 2000 (public law 106-313; 8 u.s.c. 1153 note) is amended by adding at the end the following:

`(e) visa shortage relief for nurses and to increase that allowance to 20,000 nurses a year.
bill text - 112th congress (2011-2012) - thomas (library of congress):

as others on the other thread (the same subject) have suggested maybe changing you thoughts on your paper. maybe think about the joint commision and maintaining quality standards, the effect of press ganey surveys, short staffing and hiring freezes, hcas..... those are subjects we maybe able to help.

mazy · Feb 19, 2012

You came to this site asking for help with your homework. So, what people see is someone who doesn't want to do their own thinking.

For your homework you picked the most obvious, most touted about, most generic topic imaginable, which indicates you don't want to put a lot of thinking into this project.

You used poor punctuation, which indicate a lack of interest in how you present yourself.

You become defensive when people tell you that your project is off base and that you perhaps need to readjust your thinking. You start spouting off a bunch of tired old statistics that were created 10 years ago when a nursing shortage was projected based on economic indicators that, once the recession hit, were no longer valid.

If you want to do well in this project, than you need to use your critical thinking skills, make a decision not to take the easy way out, and do justice to the work.

Or pick another topic if this one is too difficult.

workingharder · Feb 19, 2012

As you can see, there is no shortage of nurses on a national scale. Walk into a hospital and the shortage appears. Due to budget constraints, nurses (like about every other field) are being told to do more with less. The physical, emotional and mental stress is incredibly high. From what I've observed, this applies to nurses in management as well. My own unit manager is now in charge of the ER, ICU, and one floor of MedSurg. If he had another hair on his head I'm sure he would pull it out.

Specifically, to address your question, when the economy improves there will be a mass exodus from nursing. At that point due to the incredible graduation rates for new nurse, hospitals will be hiring a lot of inexperienced nurses, but the ratio of experienced nurses will proportionately decrease. This will put further pressure on nursing management to maintain the safety and satisfaction of patients thus compounding the stress they undergo. The result will be the further eroding of the ranks of experienced managers.

A degree does not a leader make. West Point does not graduate Lt. Generals. They have to have years of experience and the same goes for nursing.

It is also true that as the populace ages there will be an increasing need for medical and nursing services, yet I believe that there will also be a dearth of knowledge and experience to care for them due to the thinning of the ranks of experience. At present institutions are getting by with fewer experienced nurses and very few new nurses.

It is not a global nursing shortage that is fueling the problem, rather it is a shortage of trained and seasoned nurses within the institutions that will lead to the true exodus of management

.

The issue can be complicated but, in the end it always comes down to money. Will or can hospitals fund the needed staff for adequate patient care and staff morale? And right now, they are on a collision course with a bad ending.

purpletouch · Feb 19, 2012

thanks Esme and workingharder!!! they were really helpful insights.

if that's the case mazy that's a shame if that is what people here automatically assume when people come here for help. Such a big shame that everyone else here think people who come here for help are all taking the easy way out of their homeworks and aren't using their critical thinking.

also in my defense i have every right to be defensive when people resort to comments that does nothing but ridicule me. just how are those constructive criticism. how are they helpful at all. why is it that hard to be civil around here. people just go on the defensive and start attacking people. now that's taking the easy way out and not using critical thinking.