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. :)
in the january/february 2007 issue of health affairs, dr. david i. auerbach and colleagues estimated that the u.s. shortage of registered nurses (rns) will increase to 340,000 by the year 2020. though this is significantly less than earlier projections for a shortfall of 800,000 rns which was made back in 2000, the study authors note that the nursing shortage is still expected to increase by three times the current rate over the next 13 years.
in an article published in the june 2006 issue of health affairs titled “hospitals’ responses to nurse staffing shortages,” the authors found that 97% of surveyed hospitals were using educational strategies to address the shortage of nurses. specific strategies include partnering with schools of nursing, subsidizing nurse faculty salaries, reimbursing nurses for advancing their education in exchange for a work commitment, and providing scheduling flexibility to enable staff to attend classes. the paper ends with a call for more public financing support for the nursing educational system to expand student capacity.
front-page newspaper stories paint a picture of a nursing shortage born of increased patient loads and escalating pressure to treat more people, ...
www.nursesource.org/facts_shortage.html
underlying causes:the changing reality of nursing
while shortages have occurred in health care throughout history, and especially since world war ii, experts are finding that the developing nursing shortage is uniquely serious. it is considered both a supply and a demand shortage, combining a broad range of issues that include: steep population growth in several states, a diminishing pipeline of new students to nursing, an aging workforce and a baby boom bubble that will require intense health care services. these issues are occurring just as the majority of nurses are retiring and job opportunities within health care are expanding.
nursing school logjam - nursing shortage. "i begged for help," she said. "we had plenty of time to get help, and we got none." keck did not have pneumonia. ...
I too was struck by the glaring disconnect between the demand for placement in the Program at my school and the limited number of seats available, necessitating basically a 4.0 GPA for entrance. If there is such a shortage...create more sections.
But I see now that it is easier said than done. The main problem is not lack of classroom space, it is lack of faculty. Any nurse with degrees advanced enough to teach at the university level is going to make TONS more money working in the field rather than teaching.
Second, in NYC at least where space is always tight, finding hospitals willing to take more clinical groups is a challenge. We think that we are a gift to them -- free labor! The reality is that they view us as more of a liability. Furthermore their nurses, who are not affiliated with our school, do not want us asking them questions all day long. "I'm not being paid to teach you," has been heard more than once on the floor. Add to that the fact that NYU and Columbia and Hunter College are all tapping the same hospitals for clinical rotations and you see that the nursing shortage, while probably somewhat deliberate, has a few more dimensions than just tipping the supply and demand scale in the nurses' favor.
As a nurse who's left the bedside, I fervently believe that there is no nursing shortage. There is a shortage of nurses willing to risk their health and licenses under the conditions currently available at the bedside.
I have to tell you that I read this a lot on these types of boards and as a soon to graduate new nurse, it is disheartening. Are things really that terrible? Is it not enough time to take care of the patients adequately? Insufficient supplies? Antagonistic management? All of the above?
What is it that makes bedside nursing apparently so awful?
By the way, my BSc degree is business related, with a heavy emphasis on managerial skills and finance. But I wouldn't make a good nurse manager, because my degree doesn't read "BSN". Anyone else see the absurdity of this?
I'm wondering how this will affect me, I have a BA in Public Relations (focusing in intl business and health care mgmt) and Im getting an MN (BSN++)
NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN
10 Articles; 19,184 Posts
from: american association of colleges of nursing
about the nursing shortage
recent reports
in the january/february 2007 issue of health affairs, dr. david i. auerbach and colleagues estimated that the u.s. shortage of registered nurses (rns) will increase to 340,000 by the year 2020. though this is significantly less than earlier projections for a shortfall of 800,000 rns which was made back in 2000, the study authors note that the nursing shortage is still expected to increase by three times the current rate over the next 13 years.
in an article published in the june 2006 issue of health affairs titled “hospitals’ responses to nurse staffing shortages,” the authors found that 97% of surveyed hospitals were using educational strategies to address the shortage of nurses. specific strategies include partnering with schools of nursing, subsidizing nurse faculty salaries, reimbursing nurses for advancing their education in exchange for a work commitment, and providing scheduling flexibility to enable staff to attend classes. the paper ends with a call for more public financing support for the nursing educational system to expand student capacity.