Is there really a nursing shortage?

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Wondering if any areas of the country are really experiencing a nursing shortage. It is a topic from my online RN-BSN class that got me wondering. From my personal experiences, I'd say no but I've also only worked in hospitals around big cities (Nashville & Dallas). Wondering what other folks might say.

Many of us can't retire and will resign when we are in the ground.

Sad isn't it?

Sad indeed. My mother who is a LPN is part of this generation. We joke that once she "bites the dust" I can finally go work at her facility like I originally wanted to. They have a strict family policy and won't hire me since I'm RN and she is LPN. Had we both been RN's no problem.

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Specializes in psych.
There are two colleges in my town that offer a nursing program (one ADN and the other BSN). I know that from my class of 120 graduating nurses with maybe only a handful not passing NCLEX practically everyone found a job. It took a few months as a lot of us were holding out for hospital jobs, but ended up other places. I don't know about the other school. I think that as the baby boomer generation starts to retire there will be even more positions opening up. Our town is a medical town though so maybe that is why.[/quote']

Your class is bigger than mine. My college program accepts 40 into the December class each year. 37 graduated and every single one have jobs now. There are 79 of us left in the May class plus another 13 LPN's doing the conversion. So we are the largest graduating class they've had. And quite a few of us already have job offers pending graduation. Plus all of the previous May graduates have jobs.

I'm not basing my shortage here just on all the job listings. I'm basing it on my friends that graduated over the last 5 years plus all the nurses I've met in my rotations. None of them or my friends and their classmates had problems finding a hospital job right out if school. Most had multiple offers to choose from.

And as for Mercy, I know nurses that work there and they say its competitive for here. They recently finished a massive expansion for women's health. Just opened a new heart and vascular center. A new women's breast cancer center. And have a new orthopedic hospital still under construction. Plus opened several new primary care clinics.

You have to keep in mind that places like Arkansas are not expensive to live. My husband has an uncle that lived in California. And we were shocked to find out a 1500 sf house there cost him 800K. Here, houses run around 90-100 per square foot. So a 1500 sf house runs around 150K. The hospitals here start out about 50K, so you can live very comfortably on that income.

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@Esme12, that is sad. My mom has been an RN for a long time & she says she can't retire.

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Specializes in CVICU.

I'm not basing my shortage here just on all the job listings. I'm basing it on my friends that graduated over the last 5 years plus all the nurses I've met in my rotations. None of them or my friends and their classmates had problems finding a hospital job right out if school. Most had multiple offers to choose from.

And as for Mercy, I know nurses that work there and they say its competitive for here. They recently finished a massive expansion for women's health. Just opened a new heart and vascular center. A new women's breast cancer center. And have a new orthopedic hospital still under construction. Plus opened several new primary care clinics.

You have to keep in mind that places like Arkansas are not expensive to live. My husband has an uncle that lived in California. And we were shocked to find out a 1500 sf house there cost him 800K. Here, houses run around 90-100 per square foot. So a 1500 sf house runs around 150K. The hospitals here start out about 50K, so you can live very comfortably on that income.

I would say the situation is similar in Oklahoma, which isn't surprising considering Arkansas is our neighbor. I go to a 2-year college and none of the previous grads I have talked to had trouble finding hospital setting jobs upon graduation. During orientation for first semester here, the director of nursing came down from a Tulsa hospital saying that they welcome new grads and need more nurses, basically saying keep them in mind when we graduate.

St. Francis (a hospital in Tulsa) is building a new tower mainly dedicated to critical care (ER, different forms of ICU, etc) that is said to bring hundreds of new RN jobs to the area upon its completion (end of this year I believe). On all of the job listings I see for area hospitals, under experience they specifically say "New grads welcome". This contrasts with what a lot of posters in areas like SoCal or New England report, with job postings saying "1 year of experience required".

I am not saying places like Oklahoma or Arkansas are havens for RNs. But compared to many areas of the country, the job situation is a lot better. As TiredKitten mentioned, new grad pay is about ~50k/yr even here in Oklahoma, but the cost of living must be taken into account too. Granted, I don't have kids and I don't plan to so that affects my view on the salaries here.

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Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.

I'm not basing my shortage here just on all the job listings. I'm basing it on my friends that graduated over the last 5 years plus all the nurses I've met in my rotations. None of them or my friends and their classmates had problems finding a hospital job right out if school. Most had multiple offers to choose from.

Its great there are jobs available. It means the hospitals will be slightly hungry and more likely to treat their nurses decently.

To know if there is a shortage you would have to know how many RNs there are in the area and control for those who are travel nurses, retired, or otherwise not available for work.

It is entirely possible (likely) that there are more than enough RNs to fill every open position 2 or 3 times over. That is what I found when I looked at it in my state. Something is keep those RNs out of the hospitals. I suspect it is low pay and / or poor working conditions relative to other opportunities for nurses, or their spouses, in the area.

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Specializes in LTC, Psych, M/S.

Another factor to take into account is attrition rates of these facilities that are "always hiring" and "will even take new grads."

It is not cool to be working in a facility/unit where the majority of the staff is recently hired, a traveler or a new grad.

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Many of us can't retire and will resign when we are in the ground.

Sad isn't it?

What kills me is almost without fail each article on the "nursing shortage" goes on about how with the economy improving more nurses will retire/reduce hours because their husband's are now fully employed. Why is it even in 2014 people assume professional nurses are all married females (or looking to become), whose husbands are the primary bread winners and they are working for "pin money"?

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Another factor to take into account is attrition rates of these facilities that are "always hiring" and "will even take new grads."

It is not cool to be working in a facility/unit where the majority of the staff is recently hired, a traveler or a new grad.

As Groucho Marx said it is wise to not join just any club that will accept you as a member.

Places with open door hiring policies usually have a reason. It is like those horror movies where the new and innocent employee arrives a what seems to be a beautiful, normal and happy place to work. Then on the first day little by little she begins to notice things.....

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Specializes in CVICU.
Another factor to take into account is attrition rates of these facilities that are "always hiring" and "will even take new grads."

It is not cool to be working in a facility/unit where the majority of the staff is recently hired, a traveler or a new grad.

As a new grad, I am not concerned with what is "cool" (not sure what you meant by that?) when I'm looking for my first job to gain experience. Sure, it'd be nice to get hired into a facility populated by very experienced nurses, doctors, and aides. I would learn so much more! But, beggars cannot be choosers when 3/4 (made up statistic) of the country is saturated with RNs and the job market is competitive.

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Specializes in Management, Med/Surg, Clinical Trainer.
As a new grad, I am not concerned with what is "cool" (not sure what you meant by that?) when I'm looking for my first job to gain experience. Sure, it'd be nice to get hired into a facility populated by very experienced nurses, doctors, and aides. I would learn so much more! But, beggars cannot be choosers when 3/4 (made up statistic) of the country is saturated with RNs and the job market is competitive.

Not cool, as in exactly how you took it. When a hospital has multiple travel nurses and new grads it can be a challenge, work wise but only because the nurses will need to think outside the box to get the job done. If we keep asking the 25 yr vet on the floor they will keep giving the same answers.

As a profession, we need new blood and new ideas. We must move away from the old school nursing ways and the only way to do that is with new grads with fresh minds.

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Specializes in MLTC.

I'm from NYC and the only shortage here is in available jobs for new grads! I was in Texas late year and I was told that I could walk into any hospital and they would pay me not to get back on the plane... I didn't test it out.

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Specializes in CVICU.
Not cool, as in exactly how you took it. When a hospital has multiple travel nurses and new grads it can be a challenge, work wise but only because the nurses will need to think outside the box to get the job done. If we keep asking the 25 yr vet on the floor they will keep giving the same answers.

As a profession, we need new blood and new ideas. We must move away from the old school nursing ways and the only way to do that is with new grads with fresh minds.

I am confused, then. You are making it sound like you think new grads thinking out of the box with their fresh minds is beneficial (which I agree). Wouldn't it be good for them to be hired into a facility that isn't populated with nurses who have 30 years of experience? Many of y'all are implying that the reason these not-so-desirable areas always have RN openings is because there's something that keeps people from staying too long. Whatever that is, it means the new grads would have to learn how to handle situations on their own which could be beneficial in the long run.

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