Is it just me??

U.S.A. Louisiana

Published

I have 3 semesters before I graduate, and I hope I can get an answer from my fellow nursing students on this one. As a concerned Nursing student, can someone please explain why there is a nursing shortage in Louisiana? Could it be the amount of instructors, the amount of students they accept, there curriculum, or etc. Anything that may come to mind would help in a big way. I've tried to answer this question on my own, but I refuse to believe it's due to the amount of instructors avaliable at each college. Knowing a well known commitee here, and getting the proper feedback from you guys could have a major turnaround on this shortage. I've seen a couple of colleges over the pass 2 years change there curriculum due to the amount of students that have graduated in there program. I'm trying to be very careful on what I post in this thread because there's more to it than what's written. Anyway, any suggestions or input is what I'm looking for. Thanks

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I'll say there is nurses shortage everywhere as in LA,not even after Katrina that some fled to elsewhere leaving the state short of many professions of which nurses are amongst.In all,i personally pray things return to near as it used to be before Katrina.

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A lot of people that I know go out of state. The pay and benefits are not very competitive in La (when you compare them to other states/areas/and cost of living)- top pay here for a new nurse is 23/hr at Children's vs someplace like Texas where start pay is 36/hr. Also ,many find that they can advance further/faster out of state @ for ex. there were tons of nurse pract. that could not get a job here prior to Katrina... now you can...... timing is another issue, some people can't wait around for things to happen- they have to make things happen for themselves. (look at what it costs to insure your home and your car here..there are many still trying to repair their homes.the crime rate???..to each their own, I believe that all of us here have felt the blow by Katrina in one way or the other...

I am sure that a lot of nurses may also have been married to people who had to be transfered after the hurricanne in order to maintain their employment (this happened to a lot of oil/gas companies that were relocated to Texas) and I guess that it is easier for a nurse to transfer to another hospital as opposed to their significant other losing their income contribution.

I am sure that the reasons are numerous....and for various reasons...

take care..

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I think your also need to consider the fact that a lot of nurses become disenchanted with the profession, burnt out, etc. and stop practicing. There is a thread on the main forum about this.

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There is a thread on the main forum about nurses getting burnt out and quitting the profession. Def. something to consider here.

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Specializes in Women's Services, School Nursing.

I think that a significant problem is the nature of nursing programs in general combined with certain types of students, that make up a huge population of people who are interested in being a nurse. Many students interested in nursing are second career, older students who have families. In my personal experience, it has been really hard to work out the logistics in order to make it happen. Finding childcare at 5:30am is really hard for those who don't have family/spouse to help out, plus the limited absences (2) is unrealistic for mothers with children IMHO. I have tried to voice my opinion/ concerns to a few people (including a very passionate thread on this board), & have been met with the general attitude that "I did it with 5 kids two of which were still crawling, no spouse, & made straight A's the whole time; so shut the heck up & either accept it or get out" (this is an exageration people, but not by much). I have also found that either schools do not realize that information about potentialy problematic issues/policies for mothers is important for us to know beforehand, or they simply do not care.

I believe that schools have tried to combat the shortage by getting more students out in a shorter amount of time; however, they have not considered the idea that making it more accessible to non-traditional students would allow many more people to even apply. Being a mother is not the only hardship for non-trads, it is my problem, so that is why I use my situation as a example.

Being a student doesn't pay well, so many non-trads also must have a full-time job to pay the bills, since many of our parents are just beginning to enjoy life without children to feed. Job hrs are also very hard to negotiate, so when forced to choose between school hrs & job hrs, many have to choose their job in order to survive.

These are just my observations, I do not intend to offend anyone. I do believe it is a significant problem that could easily be fixed.

I also think that many programs spend too much time enhancing their "military like" technique in order to "weed out" weak students, rather than being an encouraging examples of the profession. How can one learn to be compassionate or empathetic while not being shown any?

Just my thoughts.

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Specializes in LTC, Psych, Hospice.

I believe it's a lack of instructors. That's why the schools can only accept a small percentage of the applicants. A BSN can make much more money practicing than teaching. Just my 2 cents worth.

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I believe that the SON and the state have made some sort of agreement to up their admission in exchange for funding...there is actually more students that are getting in. There is definitely a shortage of instructors. I don't think there is a shortage of nurses. I think that there is a shortage of nurses that wants to work on the floor when they can make more money and less stress doing agency, travel, home health..etc...

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