Is there still a nursing shortage crisis?

[newgrad82]

Ok so here is my rant-

I am a new nurse, who like many of you, can't get a job (and not from lack of trying!!) Like many of you I am not being picky, I am totally willing to relocate and I know I would be a great asset to any team. There are many new nurses on this site that have talked about not being able to find a job in their area (from San Francisco to Denver, Boston to Miami) so my question now becomes, is there really still a nursing shortage crisis? I understand that roughly 1/3 of floor nurses are Baby boomers but, as the daughter of 2 baby boomers that are approaching 65 and have no thought of retiring, I just wonder if baby boomer retirement is really going to have the dramatic effect that has been predicted. And now that there are new graduates accumulating all over the country that can't find jobs (I know there are thousands of new grads in Northern California that can't find work in hospitals) are we really at risk for such a "crisis"?

I guess I am asking because someone had posted an article about Versant programs and how hospitals are trying to increase retention and the article's author kept bringing up "the nursing crisis". I find when people, outside of nurses looking for jobs, talk about this "nursing crisis" it makes me angry because there are so many nurses that can't get a job! I still hear news and other media talking about the "crisis" where I live and it infuriates me because right now there is certainly no shortage of nurses. There is in fact a huge surplus.

Ok, I think thats it for my rant. Thoughts anyone?

[casperx875x]

Absolutely is there a nursing shortage. Unfortunately it is being resolved as hospitals are forcing larger workloads on the staff they already have. Eventually, they will see it does not work as even more nurses than before begin to leave the profession due to over-exhaustion. Everything in life is cyclical. Soon enough we will see hospitals crying out for help. It will probably be several years, but I'm fairly sure it will happen again.

I'm sorry you're having such a hard time finding a job. I have many nurse friends who are in the same position. My best advice is to be as aggressive as possible! The squeaky wheel always gets the attention!

[wanderlust99]

I'm not a new grad and I can't find a job. Some shortage huh.

[NeoNurseTX, RN]

There's no shortage of new grads..but there's a shortage of experienced nurses.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

I agree - it's a terrible situation.

As the economy continues to nosedive, hospitals are trying to stay afloat by using a number of tactics including decreasing the number of nurses they employ. In some cases, it is a genuine response to lower volumes, but in others - it just means larger workloads for the remaining staff. Nurses are increasingly reluctant to leave these stressful environments because jobs are getting scarcer....... we're in a descending spiral.

Previous posters are exactly right - there is an acute shortage of experienced nurses (who can tolerate high workloads & insane stress levels) but no shortage of new grads. Hospitals have cut back on 'luxury' items like educators & educational programs, so they may not have the resources it takes to adequately cope with new grads. Hopefully, we will eventually come full circle and everyone will be hiring like crazy again.

Until then, the best option is to relocate to the parts of the country that still have jobs for new grads. You would think that Obama's bailout for healthcare would provide some sort of incentives to hospitals that are willing to provide relocation support for this 'economic transmigration', wouldn't you? Instead, it seems to be singularly focused on beefing up nursing education & producing even more new grads - that will also be unable to find jobs. Go figure.

[jjjoy, LPN]

I think there will certainly be an increasing *need* for nursing services. However, whether or not that means an increase in viable jobs for nurses is a different issue. Can people, as individuals and as a society, *afford* the nursing care that they'll be needing? Take hospitals for example. It's not that they couldn't *use* more nurses; it's that their budgets are being cut and so they aren't hiring.

As a more hopeful example... the mid-90s in some areas had a similar "glut" of new grads. The issue then was downsizing and many experienced nurses had been laid off. Hospitals that were hiring preferred to hire the experienced nurses who could start working from day 1 and had proven their ability and staying power as nurses, as opposed to investing a ton of time and money into a new grad who may or may not pan out.

A few years later, though, it was back to hospitals desperately hiring any warm body with a license - even non-new grads applying to new grad programs because they hadn't used their license since graduation.

It doesn't help someone who needs work *right now* but I do think the job market for new grads will eventually pick up.

[llg, PhD, RN]

I agree with what others have written in this thread. The current economic conditions have distorted the situation. In the long run, there will be a steady need for nurses. However, at this particular moment, a lot of hospitals are not hiring for a variety of reasons. Once the economy recovers, the need will become apparent again.

If fact, the "shortage" may be a lot worse as hospitals continue their cost-cutting measures of pay cuts, increased work loads, decreased educational support, etc. All those things that drive people out of nursing are being more tolerated today as nurses desparately need the jobs to support themselves and their families. Once husbands, etc. get back to work, retirement plans recover a bit, etc. and nurses have the option of cutting back their work hours and/or go work somewhere else -- they won't choose to work at the bedside in hospitals that are still working under 2009 working conditions and compensation.

Somehow, I can't see hospitals "re-instating" those things that are being taken away now in this economic crisis as soon as the crisis is over. We will have to work hard over a long period of time to get them back.