IS THERE A DEMAND FOR LPN'S AND RN's

[wwdahn]

Are there jobs for LPN's and RN 's because some people say there is a nursing shortage and some people that is a plan lie. Told by schools just to get more money without any hope for future new grads I know my grandma who is a LPN retired twice only to go back work can anyone tell me what the jobs are real like in 2015.

[LPNtoRNin2016OH, LPN]

Hopeful - the reason why nurses do not take those jobs is that medicaid does not pay enough plus some of the work conditions in home care are rough.

Aint that the truth. I interview in HHC a few weeks ago, no experience, just wanted to see the deal. It was mostly pediatric vent patients. The training, per hour pay for training, and per hour for visits on my own were laughable. I happily sauntered back to my decent paying PRN LTC job.

[HopefulRN7]

Hopeful - the reason why nurses do not take those jobs is that medicaid does not pay enough plus some of the work conditions in home care are rough.

Totally agree. I'm a first year LPN so was happy to take what I could get, and the upside is I found my niche with Peds. It's a shame they can't pay more- these kiddos need quality nurses. Families can be difficult, but I've been lucky to be on cases with decent working conditions. But I've also been to some not so nice- and never went back.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

We are in desperate need of Pediatric nurses in New Hampshire- if anyone is in the area and looking to provide home care for some amazing little ones

WFXT - Severely disabled children affected by nursing shortage in NH - Story

This is not a nursing shortage, but a shortage of nurses willing to work in private duty, which pays crap.

[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

Seems like an easy and straightforward question, but it sure doesn't have an easy or straightforward answer! There are just so many variables.

The biggest factor is going to be ratio of job openings to qualified candidates. If you are looking for work in an urban area with multiple schools pumping out tons of new grads every semester all of whom are looking for work the job market will be very tight. This is even tougher if it is a desirable area to live and work

.

There are many places that have such a surplus of qualified candidates that the hospitals can be picky, in these areas getting a foot in the door even with a BSN can be hard and without one you can probably forget it. This can trickle over into other areas of employment as well, in some of these over saturated markets finding a job even outside an acute care setting can be tough without a BSN. The job market for LPN's may or may not be an entirely different story.

On the flip side there are still many areas of the country that are screaming for nurses and sign on bonuses along with competitive pay for the area is the norm.

So, the possibilities of finding employment for either LPN or RN really does depend a lot on where you live or maybe more importantly where you are willing to live. I know relocating to where the jobs are isn't always an option but if you are able and willing to move your odds will be much better.

[HopefulRN7]

This is not a nursing shortage, but a shortage of nurses willing to work in private duty, which pays crap.

For an RN, this statement holds truth.

For an LPN- my agency offers $23-25/hr. for private duty. IMO, this is a fair starting offer for a new grad LPN (which we hire), and is actually above the state average and isn't a shabby deal for a nurse to provide care to ONE patient a day with fairly low acuity compared to multiple patients in LTC setting with sometimes varying acuity (thank you, admissions) where the average is around $25/hr.

For an LPN it's a matter of whether you want to make a couple of extra bucks an hour to deal with a **** show vs getting your "feet wet" in the Peds world (if that's ultimately where you want to specialize.)

If you're a seasoned RN who's worked in acute care, the pay is laughable.