7.5% Male; 4 % Fem new nurses dropped out of nursing within four years of graduation

Nurses General Nursing

Published

forwarded by psna listserve.

joanne laviglio from the associated press would like to interview a male, registered nurse working in a hospital setting today regarding the just released university of penn study.

the research, which analyzes data from the national sample survey of registered nurses collected by the division of nursing in the u.s. department of health and human services in 1992, 1996 and 2000, was conducted by psna member julie sochalski, phd, rn. the research found that 7.5 percent of new male nurses dropped out of nursing within four years of graduating from nursing school, compared to 4 percent of women and that the drop out rate for both male and female new graduates is accelerating, rising from 2 percent of men in 1992 to 7.5 percent in 2000; and 2.7 percent of women in 1992 to 4.1 percent in 2000. with the discovery that newly-minted nurses are leaving the profession at far faster rates than their predecessors, the study suggests that the current shortage of nurses may reach crisis proportions sooner than anticipated. information regarding the study was released in the most recent issue of health affairs, an influential healthcare policy journal.

if you would like to speak with joanne, please contact her at 215-561-1133 or if you know of someone who fits the profile for this media interview please pass this information a long asap!

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now your chance to speak up!

don't have access to full report. here is abstract.

trends: nursing shortage redux: turning the corner on an enduring problem by julie sochalski

http://130.94.25.113/1130_abstract_c.php?id=http://130.94.25.113/library/v21n5/s20.pdf

projections of a substantial nursing workforce imbalance in the coming decade have galvanized policymakers, providers, private foundations, nurses, and others to proffer aggressive and sustainable strategies to ameliorate the looming shortage. the solutions are largely ones that seek to increase supply. analysis of the 1992-2000 national sample surveys of registered nurses shows that increasing losses from the active workforce, stagnant wages, and low levels of job satisfaction pose major impediments to bolstering supply. strategies focused on working conditions and retention should occupy a central position in any nursing workforce revitalization plan.

karen

re

with the discovery that newly-minted nurses are leaving the profession at far faster rates than their predecessors, the study suggests that the current shortage of nurses may reach crisis proportions sooner than anticipated.

guess they haven't been visiting this bb,,,,we discused this last year here. our ancidotal evidence is now an offical report!!!

Specializes in LDRP; Education.

Thegame:

I understood you. I was just being sarcastic.

Specializes in Clinical Risk Management.
Originally posted by thegame

I spoke abuot this last week. Only12% of nurses out there are under the age of 30. You think the nursing shortage is bad now, wait another 10 years. Our normal class size our junior year is normally 35, we started out only with 27. When we graduated, we only had 19 of the orgional crew. We picked a few up along the way frome the previoius year who got rolled back or RN to BSN.

Here is a few recomendations from me to make nursing more appealing. Espically for males.

1. Change the name of nursing to something else. Some hospitals use the Clinician levels such as I or II insteasd of using the word nurse. For some guy this is not to macho. Espically when most male nurses are reguraded or thought of as gay. I catch a load of crap from my buddies all the time.

2. Require all new graduates to be BSN graduates. Get rid of the AD program. Other professions require an higher educatinoal level to increase there pay. Allmost all Physical Therapis programs are Masters programs, allmost all pharmcy degress are PhamD and Physican Assistants are going to Masters level programs. Most doctors think all nurses are 2 year degree holders and this is nothing compared to thier 8 years of schooling.

3. Develop an intern program for new nurses or all new graduates that are 18 months long and cover most crtiical fields of nursing.

4. Allow nurses to pass a certification to pass Class I drugs so we do not have to call the Doc at 0300 for tylenol and getting a mouth full of ther crap.

This is just a few of the changes that I leave out there to ponder. Please let me know what you think??

If the current conditions do not improve the profession will never attract new nurses becuase it is a looked down uppon.

Okay, let's totally FORGET about suggestion #2. Can we agree on that much? What about the other ideas? I think that these are some good ideas. When working in a teaching hospital, how many times have any of us had to page a doc for tylenol? It's enough to make you nuts some days/nights. :(

The intern program for new grads? Another great idea. I've seen lots of nurses who, even after 2 or 3 years, didn't have much experience or confidence due to the lack of orientation/preceptorship provided by the facility. I recall feeling very ignorant...stressed, etc...and I had a pretty good orientation. The first year out of school is quite important.

Perhaps we need to consider changing our title to Clinician. Hey, I like being called a nurse, but it does cause gender bias & misconceptions about our fellow brother nurses. Every time I hear a discussion about "Should we wear caps?" I wonder what our brother nurses should wear. The traditional nurse's cap would be unacceptable for a man to wear. What could we all wear, beanies? berets? How do we educate the public or change the public perception of who a nurse is? Good grief, we have a difficult enough time getting it across to the public that we aren't nymphomaniacs prowling the hospital checking out the "equipment" on our patients, much less bringing them to an understanding that we do more than "pass pills" or sit around at the desk all night eating chocolates since patients SLEEP all night! :chuckle

Just thoughts here. We're all sifting through the layers of dreck & dross to find something of value, that one nugget of an idea that might actually be worth persuing.

Later, ya'll!

Joy

Dude, can we not do the whole ADN/BSN thing again (she says gasping, between administering breaths and CPR to the obviously dead horse......)

Specializes in Community Health Nurse.
Originally posted by SmilingBluEyes

Can we PUUUHHHLEEZE NOT make this about a debate in BSN versus AD AGAIN????? that is an old argument that has occupied many threads before this one. This is not what the original article was about anyhow! I, too, am concerned about the high dropout rate of nurses, male, female. It is a concerning issue that transcends our feelings about entry level requirements; WE NEED QUALIFIED PEOPLE period!

Deb......I'm totally with you, sister! :chuckle :kiss :D

Specializes in Community Health Nurse.
Originally posted by FTell001

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One other thing....correct me if I"m wrong here but the ADRN's and the BSNRN's sit in the same room at boards time?

Thumbs up on this one! When will the world get it on this fact? :chuckle

Specializes in Community Health Nurse.
Originally posted by fergus51

:eek:................Not the BSN DEBATE!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!:eek:

(going to hide now until it blows over);)

Me too......:chair:......:chair:........:D

I can't belive it's still going. This whole debate is over in my neck of the woods. Our students this year are the last that can bridge out with Diplomas.

As for changing the name.... I don't like that at all. I understand why people would want to, but it annoys me that we have to make something less "female" for it to be attractive to men. I never heard about attorneys or doctors talk about changing their name to attract more women. Why? Because it shows our inherrant belief than it is good for women to want to be in masculine fields but not for men to be in feminine fields because there is something inferior about femininity. Does that make any sense?

Specializes in O.R., ED, M/S.

Sorry about that! Never again will it pass from between my ears. Just to many Oreos on a long weekend, the sugar you know. Mike

Well, lol, im looking forward to my life as an RN. Really. I love to work with my hands, and this is it. I like helping people and engaging my brain. The little hassles from hungry nurses pales in comparision to all the positives. I'm happy to say this. Goodness and life to all the RN's because we/you are on the cutting edge of life. Amen

Originally posted by mark_LD_RN

I say the reasons nurses are leaving is over work underpaided high acuity of patients increased work load and lack of respect as a profession. also some men leave do to discrimination, which i think is getting a little better in some areas.

I've been a nurse in one way or another since 1976. Started in the military, and have been civilian since 78. Some discrimination early in my career. But for the most part, have been well recieved. The pay could be better,but I also like that I have been able to get a job nearly everywhere I went with little or no waiting. Of course now I'm over 40 and my knees are arthritic. I need to work several more years. The administrators are now busilly saying that I'm not worth as much as young and dumb grads that are coming through the door(in truth, some are not so dumb, but inexperienced, some will never learn). Who winds up showing them how to deal with the loads we deal with now? It isn't a gender thing, however males tend not to put up with the B.S. as long as females are willing too. Especially if there is another way to go. I must be stupid since I didn't go to PA school or anesthesia school. I just kept working at what I do.

Also.....I don't even think I qualify as a 'Baby Boomer' anyway....come to think of it....aren't 'Baby Boomer's' in their mid-fifties and early sixties??? :chuckle

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Sorry to burst your bubble Renee, but I am 46, a Boomer and proud of it. Actually, at age 46 we are in the tail end of the Boomer spectrum. My husband at age 55 is closer to the top end.

Sherri

I was born on the cusp of baby boomers, in 1964.

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