Yes , I cant help it, I have to admit it. After looking and seeing what is happening in the Nursing field, I have to say that this so called Nursing shortage is Man made. It is intentionally created. But for what reason? Of course money.
This nursing shortage has its benefits. Hospitals benefit by having one person do a job that two people at least should do. With a nursing shortage, nurses become in demand. And with demand there will be a high starting salary. Some nurses getting out of college with a 2 year degree can start making as much as 70k in nyc.
Now that benefits us in that we are getting a high salary, Yay. But it has its disadvantages. All nurses already know that disadvantage which is overworking. But another disadvantage is the patients dont get the needed care that they really need. Which would prevent so many complications, such as bed sores , med errors , death, etc.
Now why do i say this nursing shortage is man made? In a time of need, common sense will tell you to produce more. But It seems that that is not the intentions of the nursing world. Every minute the nursing world is finding ways to make it harder for someone to become a ENTRY LEVEL nurse.
Heres some examples.
1) Okay now the Nclex passing rate is raised. What was wrong with the last passing rate? Did people who passed with the last passing rate lack something? So now we need a new passing rate? But of course with a new passing rate, that will cut out some people from passing the boards. oy vey
2) Now in NYS , if you are in a RN program, you cannot sit to take the LPN test. And the reasons they gave of course was BS. More ways to reduce the Nursing rate.
3) Theres a "nursing shortage" , and the people heard the call, they came to help, But the more people come, the more harder they make it to get into a program, and the more harder they make it to graduate from a program. There is no difference between a 70 average and 75 average student. and a 74 average person is the same as a 75 average. Lets be real, You learn more in one year as a new nurse, than all the time spent in clinicals. And theres so many wonderful CE programs to build our knowledge base.
What is being done to fill this nursing shortage. Nothing really. The pay will be great for the ones that make it. But the work is going to get harder. And the risk will increase for the patients, who is suppose to be our number one concern.
But lets think realisticly if the nursing shortage would be solved in a few years from now, If the Nursing World would spit out nurses as the demand calls for. What would happen? If there is no demand then guess what goes down. The Money of course. Im not complaining , im just stating whats obvious. But then when u think about it, patient care is the most important thing. :)
whether there is a nursing shortage or not is irrelevant. we have been overworked and underpaid for a long time. the government doesn't seem to care and neither does the general public. let's face it, this is the way it's been for a long time. now as for the adn vs bsn debate-who cares! we are all nurses that should just be supportive of each other. i have a bsn and i truly don't think that makes me any better than one who has an adn. as a matter of fact, i work with one nurse who has 15 years experience(same as i do) with an adn who would rival any bsn nurse....................
I never said that ADN programs lowered the standard. I mentioned that ADN programs were created to ease a shortage. I meant that the things the OP listed ("easier" NCLEX exam, lower grade expectations in school, ect) would lower the bar for the nursing profession in a time when nurses really need to be more knowledgeable than ever before. Thank you for the correction, but I hold no misconceptions on this subject.
You are wrong that ADN was conceived as an 'easier' way to get into nursing. The prevalent model at the time was hospital based nurse training. For a variety of reasons, that model began to fail to sufficiently recruit (more opportunity for women, end of war and return to nuclear families, etc.), and, for a variety of reasons (advent of GI Bill and explosion of post WWII community colleges) the ADN program took off as a replacement for hospital based programs. That did not mean that it was 'easier'. Indeed, many argued the same as being argued now, in the current debate: that nursing would not be able to sufficiently recruit if you had to go to college to become a nurse.
As a result of the outstanding performance of ADN programs, the BSN programs attained credibility as a path to bedside nursing (something that it had not widely supported up to that point.) This is a progression in the education of nursing. ADN might have been created to 'ease' the shortage, but that does not mean it was created to be something less as a result. Indeed, it represented a vast improvement upon the education of nurses. It was able to 'ease' the shortage by providing an alternative model that could and did effectively replace the outdated model of nursing, which was a means for single adult women to bide their time for marriage. As that model failed, ADN took up the slack and ran with it. But it ran to new and better places for nursing: college level training. It 'eased' a shortage by being a superior recruiting and training model, not by being 'easy'. ADN didn't "lower the bar" - a direct quote from you this time; in fact, it 'raised the bar' of nursing education.
Specializes in Critical Care, Pediatrics, Geriatrics.
Heres some examples.
1) Okay now the Nclex passing rate is raised. What was wrong with the last passing rate? Did people who passed with the last passing rate lack something? So now we need a new passing rate? But of course with a new passing rate, that will cut out some people from passing the boards. oy vey
Timothy beat me to it.
The NCLEX standards are periodically raised to reflect advances in medicine and nursing practice, however, most schools have already changed their curriculum to reflect such changes...and pass rates tend to stay the same.
So this is not contributing to the lack of nurses.
2) Now in NYS , if you are in a RN program, you cannot sit to take the LPN test. And the reasons they gave of course was BS. More ways to reduce the Nursing rate.
I haven't read much about this, but I would venture to guess that this is one way of phasing out LPNs. Or, on the other hand, raising the amount of RNs...rationale being that you would loose some potential RNs who decided not to continue on to RN after getting the LPN license.
I wouldn't necessarily say that this is a way to keep an ongoing nursing shortage.
3) Theres a "nursing shortage" , and the people heard the call, they came to help, But the more people come, the more harder they make it to get into a program, and the more harder they make it to graduate from a program. There is no difference between a 70 average and 75 average student. and a 74 average person is the same as a 75 average. Lets be real, You learn more in one year as a new nurse, than all the time spent in clinicals. And theres so many wonderful CE programs to build our knowledge base.
This is definitely not a ploy to perpetuate a nursing shortage. Its more a fact of supply and demand...a supply of nursing instructors, that is. Sure, nursing is an attractive career and most schools have applicants in excess of their means to provide seats in a program to those applicants. Why? Not enough instructors. Therefore, there has to be a process to determine which applicants are most deserving on those coveted and limited spots. Therefore, standards are raised and it becomes difficult for students to gain entrance into nursing programs.
I pretty much agree with the rest of your statements.
The nursing 'shortage', as others have pointed out, is simply a result of unreasonable conditions at the bedside and the lack of compensation for years of experience. The patients are suffering most. Nurses suffer with high pt ratios, however, as one experienced nurse quits there is another new nurse that is willing to take her position with an extra pt or two for a dollar or two less. So what can we do about it?
I have to admit: there is no real shortage that I can see. I live in California where we supposedly have less nurses per capita than any other state with the exception of Alaska.
However, if a job pays really well and has great benefits, lo and behold ... there's plenty of nurses for those jobs. Literally dozens of them fighting for positions. I have seen RN's literally waiting in line for those jobs.
But, if the pay and benefits are mediocre at best then, there's a "shortage." Well ... that's not really a shortage. Like anywhere else ... people just don't want work for lower pay and benefits.
The real solution to the nursing shortage is to raise pay and benefits because, the hospitals could fully staff within a few weeks. I've personally seen it happen.
But, of course, most hospitals don't want to spend the money so they claim there's a "shortage."
i could not agree more about the standards being in place for a reason. in my nursing class however one of the highest test scores belonged to a student who froze at the bedside, i was constantly having to guide her on the simple things. i can only hope she got better over time.
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we had one of these in our class as well. it scared me. there are just some people that should not be nurses no matter how well they did in school. or not work directly with pt's!
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[color=#483d8b]i too agree with the standards being in place for a reason. no way should they ever be lowered. i'd actually rather work short than work with someone who is not fully qualified.
Bean counters? Profit-minded people? Like me? Don't worry, this is why I'm getting RN behind my name. So I can be more empathetic and effective in the role of Executive Manager someday.
That would be nice. My manager is a nurse and empathetic.
I understand the need to make a profit, even in non-profit hospitals such as the one I work for. Recently the bean counters (not nurses) mandated a change in staffing, (i.e. cut staffing to save money because our profits are down). While I may not know the ins and outs of our financial condition, they certainly don't understand the ramificiations fo their actions on morale, safety, and nurse retention.
Bean counters? Profit-minded people? Like me? Don't worry, this is why I'm getting RN behind my name. So I can be more empathetic and effective in the role of Executive Manager someday.
That would be nice. My manager is a nurse and empathetic.
I understand the need to make a profit, even in non-profit hospitals such as the one I work for. Recently the bean counters (not nurses) mandated a change in staffing, (i.e. cut staffing to save money because our profits are down). While I may not know the ins and outs of our financial condition, they certainly don't understand the ramificiations of their actions on morale, safety, and nurse retention.
I have to admit: there is no real shortage that I can see. I live in California where we supposedly have less nurses per capita than any other state with the exception of Alaska.
However, if a job pays really well and has great benefits, lo and behold ... there's plenty of nurses for those jobs. Literally dozens of them fighting for positions. I have seen RN's literally waiting in line for those jobs.
But, if the pay and benefits are mediocre at best then, there's a "shortage." Well ... that's not really a shortage. Like anywhere else ... people just don't want work for lower pay and benefits.
The real solution to the nursing shortage is to raise pay and benefits because, the hospitals could fully staff within a few weeks. I've personally seen it happen.
But, of course, most hospitals don't want to spend the money so they claim there's a "shortage."
:typing
There is a nursing shortage here in Florida. Probably because the growing population. They have raised pay and benefits (miniscule by California standards for sure, but they have risen nonetheless in fact my salary has risen 150% since I've been here), but nurses aren't coming out of the woodworks.
However, students are lining up in nursing schools in Florida by the thousands wanting to take those positions. Including many 2nd career students and "older" students, and men. Most of whom are turned away.
If they really were to raise salaries to Calfironia or NE levels, then we could at least steal nurses from other states, which happened in the 90's when there wasn't a shortage in the NE. :)
There is a nursing shortage here in Florida. Probably because the growing population. They have raised pay and benefits (miniscule by California standards for sure, but they have risen nonetheless in fact my salary has risen 150% since I've been here), but nurses aren't coming out of the woodworks.
If they really were to raise salaries to Calfironia or NE levels, then we could at least steal nurses from other states, which happened in the 90's when there wasn't a shortage in the NE. :)
Nah ... I used to think so too, but not anymore. Watch what happens when they don't just do incremental raises that barely keep up with inflation, but real pay raises. I'm talking about $20-$30K or more a year than what you can get anywhere else in Cali. The RN's do come out of the woodwork for those jobs. There are even waiting lists.
Obviously you know Florida better than I do but, when you look at the Bureau of Labor Statistics data, Florida pay seems really low. The average RN there makes less than even Texas RN's. I'll bet if they gave real, substantial raises ... they'd be able to fully staff in two months, because I've seen it first hand here.
whether there is a nursing shortage or not is irrelevant. we have been overworked and underpaid for a long time. the government doesn't seem to care and neither does the general public. let's face it, this is the way it's been for a long time. now as for the adn vs bsn debate-who cares! we are all nurses that should just be supportive of each other. i have a bsn and i truly don't think that makes me any better than one who has an adn. as a matter of fact, i work with one nurse who has 15 years experience(same as i do) with an adn who would rival any bsn nurse.................... 
EricJRN, MSN, RN
1 Article; 6,683 Posts
See the 'Man Made Nursing Shortage' thread in this forum for some good discussion.