Is the nursing profession causing its own RN shortage?

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With all the RN's going to NP school, is the profession significantly contributing to the RN shortage? Between retirement and RN's in line to become NP's it seems our unit is on a constant hunt for staff.

Specializes in critical care.
I just experienced my first code as a new grad, and in the aftermath of the code, I was told by a nurse that it was a good learning experience for me -- to be sure that I charted everything that was said and done every single day of my nursing life and to trust no one. The reason for this is that both MDs and nurses will not hesitate to throw me ("me" being all RNs) under the bus to save themselves. If this is what the profession does to nurses, I understand why they leave, and why I may not stay very long myself.

This is tragic. Honestly, how does an environment get that jacked up? A code is the MOST important time to trust those around you. I assure you this is not the way it is everywhere, and I would refuse to go to codes under the circumstances you just described. These backstabbers could throw you under the bus and get you complaints against your license or loss of your license.

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Specializes in critical care.
Dranger, those are called patients. We all have them. What, do you think you have the market on the sickest people ever? A good manager will get you through that. As unbearable as the population is, a good manager is the one who sets the tone and the morale flows from there.

I don't know. I think I get what he's saying. Our LOLs and compliant frequent fliers are wonderful to treat and be around in general. But our frequent flying hepatic encephalopathies, opiate abusers and ETOH detoxes are a nightmare. Of course, on my floor, they're not vented and we get 4-5 of them. They can be rude, violent, impossible. Enough of these in a small window of time does make a person reconsider career choices, or at the very least, use up some PTO to get a break from it.

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I don't know. I think I get what he's saying. Our LOLs and compliant frequent fliers are wonderful to treat and be around in general. But our frequent flying hepatic encephalopathies, opiate abusers and ETOH detoxes are a nightmare. Of course, on my floor, they're not vented and we get 4-5 of them. They can be rude, violent, impossible. Enough of these in a small window of time does make a person reconsider career choices, or at the very least, use up some PTO to get a break from it.

Yet you love your job and your unit. You talk about your charge nurse. This is the difference. The unit.

I may be getting my threads confused. I'm seeing a lot of the same themes popping up.

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Specializes in Psych.

This is the best way I have heard it put! I was mandated to obtain a BSN upon hire, which made me more eligible for NP school. (LPN plus ADN plus BSN, nope, tired of floor nursing). And quite frankly, the further up you go the easier it is to get into a school. ADN seems to be the hardest as it is the cheapest (at least where I'm at) AND after I got my little 10 months experience the Magnet Hospital hired me @ almost 4 more dollars an hour versus what they paid BSN prepared nurses from their own program!

Yes, I will pay less to become an ADN so I can make more while working full time and be able to do the remaining BSN classes online. ADN grads where I work with 2-4 years experience make $5-10 grand more. And we are so educated, that it is frustrating at times fixing multiple mistakes by those who have doctorates, yet making quite a bit less money and still getting in trouble if we go through with an order that is incorrect. (Sorry about the mini rant, but your words expressed how I feel so well!).

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Once I become a NP and leave my current position, someone will have to fill in my RN role. But chances are the quality of the person filling that role will not be as high as the former person in that role (me). There are more than enough RN's to fill the void, but the quality of those that can fill any vacancies is the issue at hand.

I hope this helps to clear up any issues.

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Specializes in geriatrics.

In the US, there are far too many avenues to becoming an RN. In Canada, there are maybe 30 RN programs and they are all at reputable schools. The curriculum is standard.

We have more nurses than jobs also but the market isn't as saturated. Closing many of the existing programs would be an improvement.

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Specializes in critical care.
Yet you love your job and your unit. You talk about your charge nurse. This is the difference. The unit.

I may be getting my threads confused. I'm seeing a lot of the same themes popping up.

You're not. I've noticed the same today.

Eta - also, yes, I love my unit and some of the units are rock stars. I would be lying, though, if I didn't say some days are just too hard. Doesn't help that I usually schedule myself in blocks. Heck, we've texted on some of my really bad days. We all have those diagnoses that push us down and then kick us while we're there. Best staff in the world won't change that.

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Specializes in Family Practice, Med-Surg.

I don't believe nursing is causing it's own shortage. I agree with previous comments that hospitals are not hiring the nurses coming out of college and not providing adequate staffing. I left hospital nursing in 1994 for a variety of reasons. At that time, I had been a bedside nurse for 20 years. I started college, knowing I would eventually get a graduate degree. I knew I did not want to be doing the heavy lifting of bedside nursing into my 40's and beyond. And I was not convinced it was possible to consistently provide safe nursing care. I could have gone the head nurse or supervisor route, I'm sure, but my love was patient contact. So I left to become an NP, where I would see one patient at a time.

I am now semi-retired, working from home doing on-line convenience care.

I think a nursing career evolves. Some nurses do the same thing for 40 years, some leave the profession, and some pursue other specialties.

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You're not. I've noticed the same today.

Eta - also, yes, I love my unit and some of the units are rock stars. I would be lying, though, if I didn't say some days are just too hard. Doesn't help that I usually schedule myself in blocks. Heck, we've texted on some of my really bad days. We all have those diagnoses that push us down and then kick us while we're there. Best staff in the world won't change that.

But it helps. It makes the difference between sink or swim when you are drowning. And high acuity patients are everywhere.

I have worked with good and bad managers in many different scenarios. It comes down to the manager every single time.

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They throw LVN's under the bus too, trust me!

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I worked as a CNA in a hospital for 4 years, and just passed my 1 year anniversary as a staff nurse on stepdown in a second hospital.

I have changed my perception of my job, and the overall treatment // respect of nurses in the hospital. I have adopted a saying that I have been faced with multiple times (both directly and indirectly)

"It's not personal, it's business"

Which is why I am moving a few states away to another stepdown unit, basically the same pay, however I am being given $10,000 sign on bonus after one year.

Chances are after one year I will leave. I doubt the grass is any greener.

Alas, I will follow the money, "It's not personal, its business".

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Specializes in CVICU.
I guess my point is that too many seem to see being an RN as a bridge to a better career and not an end in itself.

I think I speak for many other nurses when I say I couldn't see myself doing bedside nursing for the rest of my life. So yes, for many of us, becoming an RN is just a stepping stone to a better career.

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