Is it just nurses or........

Nurses General Nursing

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I read the posts on this site often and I always seem to see threads related to nurses not being able to obtain jobs. My question is whether or not nurses are the only major HEALTH profession facing this issue. The reason why I asked is because I have friends who have graduated pharmacy school and all of them were able to obtain jobs. As a matter of fact, they all had multiple job offers. Also, my neighbor's daughter graduated school and is an occupational therapist and she said that she and all of the others who graduated as occupational therapists from her school were also able to obtain jobs w/o any issues. So, in healthcare is it just nurses who are having a hard time finding employment? If so, what makes it easier for a pharmacist, occupational therapist or any other health profession to get a job? I mean after all, we all experienced the same recession right?

]in regards to the "shortage" have you researched your own states plan thru 2020 on how many new grads per year goal they have committed to??? they will be needing to pull nurses off the floor or straight from school to put in the classrooms.(from the numbers i am talking about from my state)

i do not have my bsn or adn yet ..i am a student but here is my states information that is public information .. i have saved everyone a bit of time and will post reference links to my above post. i want to make sure everyone who reads this knows tex42cares does not make the news i just report it... this is why i say what i do...

here ya go..enjoy ..research is and can be fun:lol2::)

http://www.texasnurses.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=82

http://www.texasnurses.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=243

http://www.texasnurses.org/associations/8080/files/6_10%20txrnwrkfrce2013_tcnws.pdf

http://www.texasnurses.org/associations/8080/files/4_10%20txrnwrkfrce2013_strategyatta.pdf

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Specializes in acute care.

I had a Bachelors degree and got a BSN. I did not have to start from scratch and take my general courses over, and would NOT have gone to a school that require me to. And I did not go to a second degree program. (Not that I'm against them.)

What am I missing here? You want all RN's to have a BSN. So, I if I have a bachelors degree already, how do I become a RN? Start from scratch and take all my general studies courses over?

.

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Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
Are you kidding me?

dental ASSISTANTS (like Nursing assistants...dont need even an associates) PA's DO NEED A BACHELORS, you need a masters for a PA too...

and Paralegals do req a bachelor degree.

you need to check your logic....

The PA I saw here about 3 years ago told me she did not need a bachelor's degree and that there were several programs that did not. I was pretty shocked. I think they are trying to phase those out.

The ANA and their associated state branches are not an unbiased source of information and have frequently (no, most of the time) been wrong. They are not part of state governments, either.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.
I totally agree with lindarn

As far as the academic portion, I was explaining to my fiancee that in a 60 mile radius there are like 17 ADN programs, but only 4 BSN programs....now who looks more unique the BSN or the ADN nurse?

Do away with the diploma, and associates degree nursing programs

Make BSN REQUIRED (no offense guys)

&&&& Definitely do away with the whole ABSN/EL-MSN thing.

Is there fast track teaching degrees? Fast track lawyer degrees? Can you teach high school with an associates? Uh-no

Nursing is the only profession that has like so many freaking ways to be a nurse, even the entry-level masters programs which now, as a floor RN, you are totally overqualified because you have a masters....

SO flooding happens when there are so many people who opened more schools (and more programs open to the school that already HAS a program) then you get the "nursing shortage" hype (yea, if you live in the boondocks) And you get a recipe for disaster, aka....no jobs for new grads

just my opinion.

You are saying it yourself, but don't realize it. The problem is that there are TOO MANY ADN programs. That does not equate to ADN nurses not being good enough, it just needs to be a tougher program to get in to in the first place. More and more schools offer it because it makes them money, that's the issue.

I guess I should just be *grateful* that an ADN is enough, because I had to work and support myself through college, meaning I would not have been able to go to a 4-year school full time. It just wasn't an option. That doesn't make me "less" of a nurse. With the experience I have under my belt, I certainly don't think a new BSN grad would/should have an advantage over a job opportunity. Experience means more. Also, when I've looked at bridge program courses, the majority of them have NOTHING to do with nursing itself (lit classes stuck out to me being part of it). How would that improve the nurse I am now?

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

Wanted to add...........it's also not my *intelligence* that kept me from getting a BSN (I know I did mention needing to support myself through college). I could easily have gotten a BSN or even a MSN. That maybe sounds conceited, but all I am saying is, I am smart and I have always been a good student. So lack of ABILITY didn't come in to play, it was a lack of means.

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Wanted to add...........it's also not my *intelligence* that kept me from getting a BSN (I know I did mention needing to support myself through college). I could easily have gotten a BSN or even a MSN. That maybe sounds conceited, but all I am saying is, I am smart and I have always been a good student. So lack of ABILITY didn't come in to play, it was a lack of means.

I agree with Cherry ... I still feel that there is a pinch of ADN-RN vs BSN-RN ... there was a survey done on the Doctors and with out know the nurses they say level of care and quality of care is no different from one Degree to Another.. I will look back for that link

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
Wanted to add...........it's also not my *intelligence* that kept me from getting a BSN (I know I did mention needing to support myself through college). I could easily have gotten a BSN or even a MSN. That maybe sounds conceited, but all I am saying is, I am smart and I have always been a good student. So lack of ABILITY didn't come in to play, it was a lack of means.

If ASN meant they weren't as intelligent as a BSN, then ASN wouldn't be passing the same NCLEX in the end. Like you, the ASN was a better option for me. Had nothing to do with me not being smart enough :rolleyes: Besides I must not be to stupid, I got a job right away and the hospital will be paying for my RN-BSN while I am working :p

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Specializes in L&D/Maternity nursing.

here we go once again with the ADN v. BSN debate, with a sprinkle of dislike for the direct entry BSN or MSN/accelerated BSN/MSN programs. That horse has been beaten one too many times don't we think?

either way, there are too many options for entering the field, leading to a saturation of nurses with far too few jobs to fill. THAT there is the biggest issue here. IMO, and someone already touched upon it, that some ways we can begin to fix this problem is to either A.) cut back on the number of programs out there and make them more competitive and rigorous, B.) standardize the level of entry into the field (meaning, only one type of degree) or C.) both.

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
here we go once again with the ADN v. BSN debate, with a sprinkle of dislike for the direct entry BSN or MSN/accelerated BSN/MSN programs. That horse has been beaten one too many times don't we think?

either way, there are too many options for entering the field, leading to a saturation of nurses with far too few jobs to fill. THAT there is the biggest issue here. IMO, and someone already touched upon it, that some ways we can begin to fix this problem is to either A.) cut back on the number of programs out there and make them more competitive and rigorous, B.) standardize the level of entry into the field (meaning, only one type of degree) or C.) both.

I do agree there is a huge overabundance of nurses being "pumped" out. Now that I have my degree and my license they can solve this however they please. LOL

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Specializes in L&D/Maternity nursing.

I disagree MiVidaLoca. This shouldn't be "someone else's" problem to fix. This is our profession, so we all share some of the responsibility here. We should want peers and co-workers who come fresh out of school with the appropriate training and education. Its going to save us time, energy, and yes money, in the long run because it could then mean less time to train/precept them. Not only that, but we should strive for excellence and ask that too of our peers. Raising the bar to a more standardized level of entry is one way to do that.

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
I disagree MiVidaLoca. This shouldn't be "someone else's" problem to fix. This is our profession, so we all share some of the responsibility here. We should want peers and co-workers who come fresh out of school with the appropriate training and education. Its going to save us time, energy, and yes money, in the long run because it could then mean less time to train/precept them. Not only that, but we should strive for excellence and ask that too of our peers. Raising the bar to a more standardized level of entry is one way to do that.

I wasn't being serious. I was being a smart aleck since I am done now and having a more rigorous and harder entry would no longer effect me getting in.

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Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.

I believe the push for an all BSN entry-level workforce has been at the center of the goals of nursing leaders in academia/politics since approximately 1964. The success of this endeavor has always been somewhat spotty because the reason things change as far as I can tell is driven by economics, not the more esoteric arguments.

The marketplace has never turned on a dime, so the arguing about too many/not rigorous enough/ etc nursing schools has to bear in mind that 20 years ago this was a CRISIS and everyone looked for ways to get as many new nurses out into the workforce as possible as quickly as possible, and have overshot the goal. It is not fair to current students/schools/ etc to say they are being churned out when not so long ago if you could produce a new nurse out of a firehose that would have been fine with most people. Or that cute phrase "all you need is a pulse and a license".

Now the pendulum is swinging the other way, and employers can pick and choose more than they did before, and barring other factors will usually choose the better educated person. If they were in desperate need of nurses once again, the lesser degrees would be hired and they would not be worried about the esoteric arguments.

I've included a link to a report (not a study) from a think-tank who's members seem to represent what I'd term "the powers that be" with a fairly recent rationale (Oct 2010) for the single-entry point as well as some interesting side issues.

The economy is doing what nothing else could do from the inception of the BSN only campaign.

The two main problems are that 1) there is not yet enough "seamless transition" from ADN to BSN - (especially if a 17:4 ADN:BSN program ratio is the norm)

⋄The committee recommends that the proportion of nurses with baccalaureate degrees be increased to 80 percent by 2020. While it anticipates that it will take a few years to build the educational capacity needed to achieve this goal,

2)There are not yet enough offsets to the cost difference between the two pathways and no concrete plan as to who will pay for grants and scholarships, which tends to make the workforce less representative of the population in general.

⋄Bridge programs and seamless educational pathways also offer opportunities for increasing the overall diversity of the student body and nurse faculty with respect to race and ethnicity, geography, background, and personal experience.

This idea below just makes me too sad. . .(nostalgia)

⋄For example, diploma programs could be phased out, leaving federal resources that could be reallocated to expand baccalaureate and higher education programs.

If anyone is interested in the Institute of Medicine report on the Future of Nursing:

http://www.iom.edu/

the pdf about The Future of Nursing Education - (as an aside I had to laugh at the contorted language they use to say "doesn"t know how to work a computer very good" :))

http://t.co/nVUQboS

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