My take on how the nursing profession is going...

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Specializes in Ortho, Med-Surg, Tele, Case Management.

During this rough economic time, I'm told time and time again that nursing is cyclical, that in time, things will open up again and nursing will once again be as in demand as it was ten years ago. But everything happens in it's own time and this time I'm afraid, things might be different.

Even if the economy improves in the future, I don't think nursing will ever be the way it was again, with all the millions of nurses out there currently looking for work and hospitals and other healthcare facilities cutting down on staff and pocketing profits. I'm hearing about positions for medication technicians and other assistants meant to push out the RN jobs for much cheaper pay. I don't believe that when things finally get better that they'll start hiring RN's again the way they used to. They got by while they cut down on staff during the rough times, why increase staff where they can make an even bigger profit when the money starts flowing again?

I went into nursing because I want to make a difference as well as help people, but unfortunately, I'm not getting help when I need it most. It's always "You need experience" or "You've been out of school for too long" so now I've unwittingly become a victim of the economy. I'm not about to give up though; besides, I'm pretty much held hostage by almost $80,000 of student loan debt that interest has turned my BSN degree into. I don't regret going into nursing, though I wish I was more informed about things before I made some choices, things may have worked out differently. Another unfortunate thing is that I came out during the worst possible year for new nursing grads.

At this point, I refuse to fade away into irrelevance; as I plan on taking a refresher course to spend even more money I don't have in order to prove my dedication to a field that seems to want nothing to do with me. Pardon me if any of this comes of as a rant, this is more of a vent. I would like to have opinions of what you think will happen when "recovery" time comes back around. Please keep your comments respectful and I would appreciate it if you did not flame; I already have enough to cry about.

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I do not feel that the money will ever start "flowing" in health care EVER again even if the economy improves. I do not feel like nurse techs/MA's will take over nursing. I think patients receive better care from people that have the theory not just the skill set and I think health care recognizes that by continuously pushing higher education. I think the budget for nurses will remain tight but there will always be nursing positions. Just keep trying to find that job!

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Specializes in Home Health,ID/DD, Pediatrics.

I am in the same boat you are, and I cry plenty. I don't know that things will recover the same as they have in the past. I feel that as long as hospitals can fill the void with lesser educated employees then how can things change? I hope things get better, I just don't know that nursing will ever be what it was in the "good 'ol days".

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Nursing is a bubble waiting to happen. Just like the Dot Com days and housing. I remember back in the 1990s, NOBODY WANTED TO BE A NURSE. In fact, I used to get insulted (I didn't get spit on or anything like that, but got dirty looks) by people for wearing my scrubs in the streets ( I was a nurses aide and LVN then) or mentioning I was a nurse. It was even worse for me, because I was a MALE NURSE! lol. I used to get comments that I wiped butts for a living, that I was gay, and bs crap like that while all these Silicon Valley tech geek wannabes were all trying to start their own Yahoo and Ebay websites driving up the cost of living. Now, everybody wants to be a nurse because it's the "recession proof" job. I've also worked with nurses who started off in the 1980s and they told me it was hard to find jobs then. So the OP has a point about nursing being cyclical..Maybe.

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Specializes in Ortho Med\Surg.

This thread makes me very thankful to live where I do. We had 60 ADN graduates and 80 BSN graduates in November/December and most of them have positions already. My town has 4 hospitals that use the Versant program and I am lucky to be continuing my education in this program with my fellow new grads. I cannot imagine being in the OPs position -- there but for the grace of God go I!

Much luck and many prayers to those still job hunting!

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