Letter Campaign to Oprah regarding the so called "Nursing Shortage"

llg, PhD, RN · Sep 18, 2009

While I think all of the people who would like to write a letter have their hearts in the right place -- I think such a campaign would probably hurt nursing more than it helps. It would probably turn into just a public spectacle of nursing shooting itself in the foot again as people with different perspectives would argue and "air our dirty laundry" in public.

A few people would let of steam and feel better temporarily ... but the long term political consequences would be more negative than positive.

xoemmylouox, ASN, RN · Sep 18, 2009

Well I don't see anything wrong with writing to Oprah. It is apparent nurses are having different experiences with the job hunt. I know many in this area who have had many years of experience, and cannot find a job once they were laid off from the hospital. Also new grads have no real job options. It's sad. Everyone can say it may be worse to speak than to not, but how do things ever change if no one speaks up? :twocents:

llg, PhD, RN · Sep 18, 2009

Well I don't see anything wrong with writing to Oprah. It is apparent nurses are having different experiences with the job hunt. I know many in this area who have had many years of experience, and cannot find a job once they were laid off from the hospital. Also new grads have no real job options. It's sad. Everyone can say it may be worse to speak than to not, but how do things ever change if no one speaks up?

Good point -- but nurses have a terrible history of speaking up in ways that do as much as good. Instead of airing our intradisciplinary issues in public forums, we need to converse with one another through professional organziations - and support the leaders of those organizations as they try to articulate a clear consistent message to policy makers. If we want real change, we should be active in our nursing associations and pooling our resources to support our leaders and paid lobbyists to use their political skills (and power in having large group membership numbers) to effect meaningful change. A bunch of women arguing on TV looks too much like sleazy reality TV to make the positive impression we need to make.

If you don't like the stance of a particular nursing organization, choose another nursing organization that more closely reflects your views -- or join one of the big organizations and express your views at their meetings to influence their positions on the issues. That's where your voice (and money) would do the most good. Squabbles on TV that don't present a consistent picture of a profession with its act together won't be of much help. Invest your time, energy, and other resources where it will do the most good.

JoblessRN · Sep 18, 2009

working on the letter today.

i feel sick to my stomach about hearing people quote the "nursing shortage" and i just wan to cut in and tell them how freaking false it is. total myth! there is absolutely no nursing shortage!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

if i had a dime for every person that tells me "oh, don't worry...it will get better soon", i could retire now.

xoemmylouox, ASN, RN · Sep 18, 2009

Good point -- but nurses have a terrible history of speaking up in ways that do as much as good. Instead of airing our intradisciplinary issues in public forums, we need to converse with one another through professional organziations - and support the leaders of those organizations as they try to articulate a clear consistent message to policy makers. If we want real change, we should be active in our nursing associations and pooling our resources to support our leaders and paid lobbyists to use their political skills (and power in having large group membership numbers) to effect meaningful change. A bunch of women arguing on TV looks too much like sleazy reality TV to make the positive impression we need to make.
If you don't like the stance of a particular nursing organization, choose another nursing organization that more closely reflects your views -- or join one of the big organizations and express your views at their meetings to influence their positions on the issues. That's where your voice (and money) would do the most good. Squabbles on TV that don't present a consistent picture of a profession with its act together won't be of much help. Invest your time, energy, and other resources where it will do the most good.

I can see your point as well. I don't find Oprah to be sleazy tv though. I am no fan of hers by any means, but I do find she is one of the more respected talk show hosts. If we were talking about the View that would be a different story.

fitRNpic · Nov 12, 2009

Good point -- but nurses have a terrible history of speaking up in ways that do as much as good. Instead of airing our intradisciplinary issues in public forums, we need to converse with one another through professional organziations - and support the leaders of those organizations as they try to articulate a clear consistent message to policy makers. If we want real change, we should be active in our nursing associations and pooling our resources to support our leaders and paid lobbyists to use their political skills (and power in having large group membership numbers) to effect meaningful change. A bunch of women arguing on TV looks too much like sleazy reality TV to make the positive impression we need to make.
If you don't like the stance of a particular nursing organization, choose another nursing organization that more closely reflects your views -- or join one of the big organizations and express your views at their meetings to influence their positions on the issues. That's where your voice (and money) would do the most good. Squabbles on TV that don't present a consistent picture of a profession with its act together won't be of much help. Invest your time, energy, and other resources where it will do the most good.

I don't believe that the intentions of trying to get Oprah to do a show on nursing would be to Air our dirty laundry or sqabble on TV. I don't believe that Oprah's show is sleazy, though I have never actually watched a whole show. Most of what I have ever watched of her shows were that they were very informative to the public.

I believe that this would make for a great show for informative purposes. The public seems to think that there is this huge nursing shortage and that we are almost guaranteed jobs because of the so called shortage. All through nursing school, our professors would tell us that we would never have problems finding jobs and that recruiters would be lining up to offer us positions (and this was in 2007). My experiences are far from this. To this day, I still have trouble getting a job in healthcare. I have been applying to jobs for 3 years in the area I am most interested in, my dream job, and the reason I got into nursing, and have yet to receive any offers. I think that it would be nice to inform the public that we are struggling too! We too can not find jobs. That there isn't really a nursing shortage at this point because there are so many nurses right now, new grads and experienced, without jobs. We would be able to explain the reactions we get when we apply to positions. Being told that they only hire nurses that have X amount of experience in specific areas, some being told that they are too confident, no willingness to train new grad nurses, no new grad programs, posted positions that the hospital or facility is really not hiring anyone to fill, ..... I have looked over countless hospital websites at open RN positions. I have applied to thousands of positions. I have called these hospitals to follow up, only to be told that they are only hiring EXPERIENCED nurses for that specialty or that they are only hiring within the organization, or I was told that I could not apply to a new grad residency program because I graduated more than 6 months ago!!. The public needs to be informed. I am getting sick of trying to explain to people why I don't have a job or at least a good job. I always get: " Well, the hospitals are hiring aren't they", "But, there's a nursing shortage.", "Why are you having a hard time finding employment when you have a degree", and countless many other questions. My own husband doesn't even understand because he hears this from this person and that from that person. The public hears rumors and what not and doesn't take the time to do the research.

So, I believe that we should get word to the public about how we are struggling and the problems we face, because they don't see it and/or understand it coming from us! And who knows, maybe it would get some hospitals and recruiters and HR people thinking more about how and who they hire and how they advertise their open positions.

Also, about the nursing organizations and associations, not everyone can afford to be members of their nurse organizations. The membership fees are way beyond being affordable!

ChristaRN · Nov 12, 2009

I think your assessment is true in alot of cases but not all. I was laid off last December when the Peds unit closed at the small hospital I worked at. Fortunately I was hired within two weeks at a larger hospital's peds unit. I do have some experience, 4 years at the time with 2 in med-surg and 2 in Peds. However, there was a wonderful nursing whom I worked with, a nurse of 30 or so years who searched for MONTHS for a job, being turned down at pediatrician offices, wound care centers and nursing homes before finally landing ONLY A PER DIEM job at a nursing home. As for my area of PA, I would say there is no nursing shortage in most hospitals. I work with a GN who can't find a GN job and is continuing to work as a nursing assistant as a result! Never would have thought it would be this way for nursing. As for my hospital, they are saying that the reason for so few job openings is a lack of turnover because people are afraid to leave even a job that they don't like for fear of not finding a new one.

You should have various points of view, especially from those who are experienced.
I will be honest with you. I do not have trouble finding a job. I have multiple years of experience in different areas and have people trying to recruit me to this day, even though I am working.
I think, truly, this phenomena of not having a job is only applicable to those without experience.

Vito Andolini · Nov 13, 2009

You should have various points of view, especially from those who are experienced.
I will be honest with you. I do not have trouble finding a job. I have multiple years of experience in different areas and have people trying to recruit me to this day, even though I am working.
I think, truly, this phenomena of not having a job is only applicable to those without experience.

Today, yes.

What about tomorrow, as more and more jobs are lost, and more and more new nurses enter the market here?

Jules A, MSN · Nov 13, 2009

i feel sick to my stomach about hearing people quote the "nursing shortage" and i just wan to cut in and tell them how freaking false it is. total myth! there is absolutely no nursing shortage!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
if i had a dime for every person that tells me "oh, don't worry...it will get better soon", i could retire now.

i'll be honest i'm starting to grow weary of all the drama surrounding the new grad job hunt. most fields aren't hiring in droves right now. it is just a fact of life. our economy has always been ebb and flow. i know the hype surrounding the nursing profession might have given prospective students the wong idea about how easy it would be to get your dream job right out of school but that is not the reality now and truthfully as trite as it may sound when things sound too good to be true they usually are. there aren't many openings in nursing or any other field i know that is graduating tons of students every year right now.

my advice would be for future grads to start appying early! i can't understand how so many times i read about new graduates that didn't start looking for work until after passing nclex. for those of you looking continue getting as much face time with recruiters and supervisors as you can. check back with nurses you made a good impression with during clinicals. consider any type of nursing position even ltc and something other than the beloved day shift, gasp. things will change! i promise and in the meantime if you need to continue working the job you had while in school that is just what you will have to do to keep the bills paid until you get your nursing job. it will come.

hiddencatRN, BSN, RN · Nov 13, 2009

What you are trying to accomplish by doing this? Why would Oprah and her viewers be interested in this topic?

Because Oprah has a wide reach, and because there is tons of news about the shortage and next to nothing about how difficult it is for new grads to find jobs. Here's what it could accomplish- awareness by the general public that you don't roll out of nursing school in to a job, that hospitals concerned about the nursing shortage should start being more open to new grads, and that if training cost is an issue, maybe some of the attention going towards pumping out new nurses will go towards training programs for new grads.

And at the very least, it would stop people from telling me I'm being crazy (or self-defeatist, low self-esteem, serious confidence issues, etc) when I say that I'm concerned about finding a job when I graduate.