Huge over supply of nurses

[CrunchRN]

I have been beating this drum for years about way too many nursing schools. Here is the proof:

http://bhw.hrsa.gov/healthworkforce/supplydemand/nursing/workforceprojections/nursingprojections.pdf

Look at the size of those numbers!

[roser13, ASN, RN]

I completely agree with this! I'm a future nursing student who just applied to 7 different schools. The nursing shortage may be a "myth" but I am still very much optimistic that I will find a job upon graduation because they are out there! Any person going into nursing now has to be smart, not only academically but also have a high level naïveté. You have to be willing to do whatever it takes to make it work. I've been looking into the mid-west because new grads have been job outlooks than on the coasts. But you have to put in the work and never give up.

High level naievete??? Define, please?

[Libby1987]

Maybe nursing job prospects will start to look like it does for other professions that aren't single and/or working parent friendly when first starting out and like posted up thread I think, those that are flexible with location will seek out and obtain their initial experience.

If one of my kids really wanted to be a nurse, postponed family and such much like a med or law student often does amd threw themselves into school, obtaining relevant work experience and making themselves out to be a competitive marketable package and then went to North Dakota for their first job that would lead into their area of interest, I would encourage them.

For someone with an inflexible lifestyle following graduation who wants to immediately live a normal life with *balance* and isn't able to throw themselves into the first few years as if with any other internship, not so much.

[LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN]

Unfortunately, most of those positions require acute care experience.

Sometimes they require out of the box experience.

I have dabbled in nursing informatics and CMS review because I worked in home health; I had no acute care experience and I was a LPN at the time, not an RN.

It goes to show that out of the box positions are available, and may lead to acute care positions and the reverse; it seems to me, IMHO, it comes down to know how to sell and market yourself.

[MatrixRn]

Nor do I see any mention of the bazillions of non-bedside/clinical positions held by RNs now, many of which are increasing in demand.

I agree. There are many jobs out there that are not Acute Care, however the measure for many nursing studies is Acute Care.

The non-bedside jobs are growing by leaps and bounds. I would love to see stats on home health and Urgent care etc. These two areas are booming due to provisions in the ACA that discourage readmits.

[sjalv]

So on a thread about nursing pay...and how we can band together and support one another you choose to toss in politics. Seriously.

1. What does this thread have to do with banding together? The theme of the thread is that there is no nursing shortage. What are we going to do, blackmail hospital CEOs into hiring more nurses?

2. There is absolutely no arguing that Oklahoma is a socially conservative state and that liberal mindsets are in the minority. If me pointing that out is upsetting, then I don't know what to tell you. Politics have much to do with why or why not one would want to live in a certain state. I think it was relevant to mention.

[roser13, ASN, RN]

So on a thread about nursing pay...and how we can band together and support one another you choose to toss in politics. Seriously.

Someone's confused and I don't think it's me. This thread is not about nursing pay. It's about nursing shortages and potential areas of the country that might have more nursing positions available now and in the future.

I'm certain that any nurse applicant who was planning to look into a position in Oklahoma would see that post (the one you labeled "political") as a very contextual aspect of the position and something that's very valuable to know.

[LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN]

I agree. There are many jobs out there that are not Acute Care, however the measure for many nursing studies is Acute Care.

Depending on the program, Public Health will have clinicals in Home Health and Clinics; I did my rotation in a clinic and it was an NIH sponsor for Asthma as well, so we did a ton of teaching and following up and did rotations in the sick clinic as well.

I think more programs should have fundamentals in LTC, Med Surg and Critical Care in the hospitals, and Public Health in clinics and home care; by the time they have a well rounded education and exposure to what nursing has to offer.

(Not leaving out L&D, Peds and Psych, which L&D, Peds can be done in the hospital and Psych on a unit or Psych hospital, L&D can have an alternative like a birthing center just wanted to focus on those aspects since it's acute care the main focus of most uninformed students.)

[dannibeeRN]

There is only such a backup of nurses because of the state of our economy. A couple of years before I graduated from nursing school, I kept hearing that the older nurses weren't retiring like they usually would because of retirement plans that were taken away and because of the overall failing state of our economy. I still think this is true. I also think the older nurses have to take care of their grown children who also have college degrees but can't find a job right now. I see A LOT of older nurses working on the floor and although I don't know their personal situations, I'm pretty sure they work because they have to survive and/or provide for their families.

The problem with that nursing schools are putting out more and more graduates but there is nowhere for them to work because all the jobs are taken by the older and experienced nurses.

[Anna S, RN]

It's not related to the economy- it's simple supply and demand.

"Key Findings: Nationally, the change in RN supply between 2012 and 2025 is projected to outpace demand. "

RN Supply in Excess of Demand, 2025: 340,000

The number of new graduates that entered the workforce has substantially increased from approximately 68,000 individuals in 2001 to more than 150,000 in 2012 and in 2013. "

http://bhw.hrsa.gov/healthworkforce/...rojections.pdf

[MoshRN]

2.9 million RN's in 2012. We should be able to change the world with those numbers!