Is nursing recession-proof?

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Mar 14, 2008

Please realize that there are presently over 500,000 RNs and countless LPNs/LVNs who have active nursing licensure, but are no longer working as nurses at the current time. During times of deep economic recession, these people tend to return to the workforce for monetary reasons, which then causes nursing pay rates to stagnate as well as difficulties with new graduate nurses finding employment.

This occurred during the recession of the early 1990s, and lasted well into the middle 1990s in some areas. I know of a few nurses who completed school during this time period, and were unable to find jobs for 6 months after graduating. It was because the inactive nurses were re-entering the job market to avoid economic hardships for their families.

It is true that "everyone will always need healthcare," but other methods to provide this healthcare exist, such as the utilization of foreign-educated nurses, using technicians to carry out tasks that were once the exclusive realm of nurses, and having inactive nurses return to the field.

Bicster · Mar 15, 2008

Disease/illness knows no recession. Jobs will be there, though the compensation will vary.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Mar 15, 2008

Moved to the General Nursing Discussion to stimulate replies.

racing-mom4, BSN, RN · Mar 15, 2008

I think certain jobs are recession proof, with nursing/medicine being one of them.

I wonder what the mass number of licensed nurses who are not currently working as nurses are doing???

I know of many of nurses who stay home while their kids are young and may work an occasional PRN shift. But i personally dont know of any licensed nurses who just left and went and did something else..Do you think they went into other similar fields working for drug companies maybe? or medical sales? I dont know, I would like to know though---maybe they know something we dont!!!

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Mar 15, 2008

I wonder what the mass number of licensed nurses who are not currently working as nurses are doing???

According to my link, they're not working in the nursing profession.

http://www.afscme.org/publications/2224.cfm

In 2000, nearly 500,000 registered nurses in the United States were not working in nursing. Of these, 36,000 were seeking employment as nurses. An additional 136,000 were working in non-nursing occupations, and 323,000 were not employed at all.

racing-mom4, BSN, RN · Mar 15, 2008

I did go to school with a lady who already worked for an orthopedic manufacturing firm and she was in sales, she wanted to move up in the company but they required at least an associates for the job she wanted so she went to nursing school. She figure it would only help her and the company paid for her to attend!! She drove our teachers crazy as she said from minute one she was not going to take NCLEX, so our pass rate would obviously be affected by her not taking it.

I thought there were easier ways to get your associates than nursing, but she is in love with her job, and I know they pay her very well. I lost count of how many new pairs of Nike Shox she wore through out the years!!!!

TX_ICU_RN · Mar 15, 2008

It is about as recession-proof of a job as you are going to find. I graduated from nursing school in 1997, and we were one of the first classes in a few years to be recruited and have a pick of various specialties. However, everyone who graduates from our nursing school in the 5 years prior to our class all had a job within 6 months of graduation (80-85% had a job by graduation).

kcochrane · Mar 15, 2008

Well, I don't think we are headed into a recession. :no: But I lived through the one in the early 80's, so I use that as a personal judgement.

Even if we do, I think you might get SOME people coming back into the field. We have a huge aging population and I think if you like little old ladies, you will never have to worry about a job. :)

Personally I plan on keeping my LPN after I get my RN. It gives me another option if my facility decides to go cheap again and lay off RNs.

SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN · Mar 15, 2008

This is a capitalist society (I'm not knocking it), so no career is recession proof! Nurses may not get laid off in mass numbers like those who received pink slips during the late 90s early 2000s from working in IT, but like Tweety wrote, nurses with experience will return to the work force. In addition a number of foreign nurses will continue to be hired and American nursing schools will continue to crank out more New Graduate Nurses then the hospitals can handle. A combination of both a recession and the current formentioned trend will devastate nursing wages and opportunities for employment.

I am not stating that a Nurse can never ever find a job, I am just stating that competitive wages will be lower then they are now. Plus options, such as working in one area or one specialty over another, will be limited.

I think the optimism shared by most of the above posters is based on fantasy. I lived through the 90s in IT and the same crazy ideas Student Nurses have are similar to those who worked in IT during the "BOOM". No one is being practical! Everyone thinks he/she is needed. There is a shortage, right? Besides employers have no choices. Won't they pay lots of money for us to sign on to work? These ideas are CRAZY!

First, the shortage only applies to nurses with experience; not New Grads. Secondly, $1000-3000 for a contract to work several years is not a lot of money! In fact, most places that pay more then others are the WORST employers around!

Besides, there is an aging population that the current nursing hopefuls are ignoring. How many nursing students do you know that are going to nursing school to work in LTC or Home Health? I only hear LPN and RN students talking about starting in a specialty. Look at the pre-req board if you need a reality check... They are all ED/ER, LDRP, ICU, and PACU bound! Yes older people are in need of these services but Acute Care can be picky.

In fact, currently many places are only hiring experience. Plus New Graduate programs are becoming impacted. Please note how this is all happening without a recession! For the first time in 15 years my local hospital has very few spaces in their New Graduate program because New Grads from out of state are applying to this RURAL area. Why? They cannot find a job in Acute Care where they live!

My advice to you OP is to be realistic and not get caught up in all of the hipe. Start looking for jobs while you are in nursing school. Land your job before you graduate nursing school. Once you are a nurse, gather up all your acorns and nuts and store them for the winter. There is a downward trend in wages over the horizon if there is a recession. GL! :twocents:

llg, PhD, RN · Mar 15, 2008

Nurses are in a better position than many people during a recession -- but NO profession is totally recession proof and nursing is no exception. Nurses are not immune from the various economic forces around and from their effects on human nature.

As TheCommuter said, the job market for nurses changes with changing economic conditions. As people's husbands lose jobs ... or wages become stagnant ... or prices become high ... etc. nurses who work part time tend to "pick up a few more shifts" to earn a little extra money. Some people switch from PRN positions into budgeted positions, etc. In short, there is a trend for experienced nurses who are already working in an area to work more, which results in fewer vacant positions.

The employers love that because they get "more labor" without having to pay for orientation, more benefits, etc. They have a pool of alreay-trained, proven staff members at hand that give them little reason to hire many new people. There are also some nurses who have taken breaks from their careers (e.g. to have children) who come back to the jobs they 2 or 3 years ago (where they are known to be good nurses and where they will need little orientation.)

Also, hospitals are affected by recessions. They are pinching pennies, try to do "more with less" and generally not expanding the workforce when they are feeling stressed about money as in a recession.

The above trends brings down nursing salaries and reduces the number of available positions and makes it more difficult for new people to get their feet in the door.

So ... nurses are affected by recessions. However, the complany bankruptcies, the mass layoffs, and similar turmoil experienced by other industries rarely happens in nursing. Nurses are usually able to find a job if they are willing to do one or more of the following:

1. Work unpopular specialties

2. Work unpopular hours

3. Relocate to another town where nures are not so plentiful

4. Get additional education and/or certifications

5. Be smart with their career planning & cultivate relationships, network, etc.

In summary: Nurses are not immune from the effects of a recession. The people who say "no problem" are overly optimistic. There can be problems.

However, with "extra effort" and compromises, nurses are generally able to wheather a recession in better shape than a lot of people.

RNperdiem, RN · Mar 15, 2008

I remember in the mid 1990's when weekend pay plans/Baylor plans disappeared, sign on bonuses vanished, and new grads had to work harder to find a new job. There were a lot of Canadian nurses who moved to the states to find full-time work too.