Is nursing recession-proof?

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In 8 short weeks, I will be without a teaching job after 22 years. My resignation is necessary to pursue a second degree for nursing as a second career. All the reports in the media say we are smack dab in the middle of a recession. Does anyone have any information about how a failing economy will affect health care jobs? Is this a terrible time to try to change careers? Thanks for any help you can provide. :confused:

I believe the economy has a lot to do with how poor nursing conditions have become. With so many people out of jobs, we need to be more grateful than ever. I noticed that management has become more defensive about conditions because they can easily replace us with another nurse, especially a new grad. Hospitals love new grads....easy on the budget and no other experiences to compare to.

You got a point there. A lot of us were around for the glut of the early 90s and remember that it was hardest back then for the new grad.

However, there a trend that I witness for the first time since 2000 and experienced personally in the last year. That is for experienced people to be forced out and replaced by newbies that make less. So you can't automatically assume that the future will be like the past. If jobs do get tight during a resession it may be the reverse of the tight job market of the early 90s.

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Specializes in Government.
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.

I lived through this. I wasn't laid off but I was forced to permanently reduce hours. I was PRN at 2 psych hospitals that closed completely...almost all of my friends from those faciltiies left nursing after being unable to find work. And admin attitudes towards nurses? Whew, saw a lot of "true colors".

You go though that once, you never really think of your profession as bomb-proof again.

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Specializes in Everytype of med-surg.

I thought that nursing was as recession proof as it could get. However, due to these tough financial times it seems like every industry is cutting back, nursing included. Do I think you will ever have a problem finding a job? Definitely not. Are hospitals going to keep cutting corners, cutting support staff, increasing the nurse/patient ratio to save a few dimes, for sure. But, jobs will always be there, which is alot more than I can say for other industries. Will you want to work as a nurse due to the difficult conditions made by all of the cost cutting? That is another story. :no:

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Specializes in None yet, but O.R. intrigues me.

Re: what are those 500,000 nurses doing now?

After 18 months I went back to my former profession, web development. I DO want to help people, but I don't want to kill myself doing it! The odd hours and rigid work environment really turned me off and burnt me out.:down: I loved my coworkers. Management, not so much.

All is not lost though. I am volunteering, as a nurse, at a local clinic serving a mostly gay/lesbian clientele and anyone who is HIV+ and I'm loving it.:up:

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