A letter I wrote to Senator Schumer. I am a new grad like many of you who CANNOT find a job.
I am writing to you today to raise awareness of the "nursing shortage" that has been reported by the media for some time. I am sure you are well aware that this is a problem that needs solving. If you visit a hospital, you will find that there are not enough nurses. Patients are being neglected. Yet this year alone, there will be 10,000 new graduate nurses.
For as long as I can remember, I've always had a love for medicine. It was not my first career choice when I graduated from high school. However, as time went on, I realized that the need for health care professionals was growing. There was one time in particular when I was in the hospital for surgery. It was 3 am and the pain medication had worn off. I called for a nurse three times, finally getting a call back on a loud speaker. I tried to raise my voice telling the nurse I needed more medicine. It took about 15 minutes for the medication to be delivered, and that was the one and only time I saw that nurse for the entire night.
As a nursing student, I experienced this situation often. Nursing trainees are able to dispense medication and care for patients just like the R.N. on staff. I cannot recall how many times the patients stated they were so thankful we were there to help. The patients constantly said that they had seen their particular nurse once or twice in a twelve hour period, and it took a lot of persistence to get the assistance they needed.
I know this business well after devoting three years of my life to learning about it, and realize that not only are the patients suffering but so are the nurses. Of course on paper the job seems like a win-win situation. The starting base salary can be anywhere from 55,000-60,000 annually. Well, I urge anyone to go onto a medical surgical floor and try to have one conversation with an R.N. while they are doing their rounds, dispensing medication, and writing documentation (which is constant). You will soon understand that there is no time to chat. To further complicate this scenario, what if one of the eight patients under their care has an emergency? In many cases this means that the other patients will be neglected or the emergency will go unseen for quite some time.
You are probably asking yourself if 10,000 student nurses will graduate this year, why is there a nursing shortage? It has been my mission to understand this over the past four months. I graduated in December 2009, and received my license in February 2010. I have been searching for a position as a new graduate R.N. for this entire time. What I have been told by every nursing recruiter is that there is no funding for newly graduated nurses. Many have said that the hospitals are broke and cannot afford the staff they already have. How can this issue of a nursing shortage be rectified if no one is willing to hire and train new nurses?
Since you are a part of the "baby boom" generation, I am sure you are well aware that if there are not enough nurses now, what will happen in the next 10 - 20 years? As the clock ticks, only a small percentage of the nursing students who graduated with me in December 2009 will have a position. Those of us who don't find jobs will lose the skills we acquired in school. At one hospital in particular, I was told that a position would possibly open in September 2010. That would be nine months after I graduated from my last clinical rotation. I have tried to gain employment in home care, nursing homes, outpatient facilities, doctor's offices, and any other place a nurse would be hirable. For every position I've applied for, the recruiter says the same thing, "We cannot hire new grads." Forty nurses from my graduating class are at a loss for ideas. Some have moved to other states, only to find the same exact situation.
I urge you to please consider a New York State funded program for new graduates. Ask anyone of us to take a pay cut just to have an opportunity to work and learn, and we would gladly oblige. Some of us may only have an Associate's degree in nursing. However, we've received same education that B.S.N. graduates enjoy, but at an accelerated pace. The hospitals are denying us jobs because they say that they cannot afford to further finance our education. Does this mean that being accepted into one of the most difficult and demanding nursing programs in the country and graduating magna cum laude was all in vain? I certainly hope not.
My newly-licensed colleagues and I are the future face of healthcare. But without jobs and training, our skills will go unused. This would be truly shameful, not only for my nursing sisters and brothers, but for the future retiree generation that will someday include you and my parents.
a response... i am sickened! then why is it that 2 years ago associate program nurses were hired before bsn graduates???? something is fishy here!
thank you for taking the time to email me and share your thoughts on the nursing shortage. you are very well spoken and a strong advocate for patients and the nursing profession. our healthcare system is indeed broken, and serious steps must be taken to ensure that patients receive high quality, safe care. the research shows that nurses with high patient loads are spread too thin, and patients suffer the consequences. fortunately, the magnet hospital concept is catching on and more facilities are moving to limit nurse to patient ratios and enhance the nurse work environment. the current trend in not hiring new graduates in some parts of the country is a direct result of the recession which has impacted all sectors of the economy. this disruption in usual trends has resulted since nurses planning to retire are holding on to their jobs, some part-time nurses are now working full-time to make ends meet, and hospitals have instituted hiring freezes to help keep costs down. as the economy recovers, we do expect old patterns to re-emerge and many rn positions are expected to open soon. the rn workforce is still aging rapidly and a large wave of retirements is expected over the next 10 years. i know that some parts of the country are still experiencing shortages (like texas and missouri) and heard last week that new nursing grads can earn annual salaries of up to $80,000 if they opt to work in the delta region of mississippi. below are some links to jobs site that you may find useful. i do wish to offer some additional information about baccalaureate prepared and associate degree nurses. you should be proud of your magna cum laude standing and i know you worked hard to achieve this. but associate degree programs are not accelerated versions of baccalaureate programs, and bsn graduate do receive more in-depth and rigorous coursework in the sciences, research, community health, and management. the reason why magnet hospitals look to hire bsn grads is because they recognize a difference in these nurses, and the research is clear that patient outcomes are better when care is provided by bsn nurses. you are clearly a bright, committed nurse and i encourage you to continue your formal education (up through doctoral preparation!) because nursing needs strong leaders like you guiding the profession. best of luck to you in your job search. robert
Thank you for your response. I do have a few questions to ask you regarding the comparison to BSN and ADN nurses. The problem I have with your information is that up until 2 years ago (specifically in my area) ADN nurses were considered gold. To get into the program a person needed at least a 3.80 GPA, and to stay in the program was even harder. The surrounding area had many BSN programs from private schools where most of the nurses graduated with over $50,000 in school loans. I feel as though my program deceived me and my fellow class mates, however all of the past graduates had no problems gaining positions. Of course my goal was to go on to gain the highest degree possible but I wanted to do this while I was working. I feel as though the ADN programs should be shut down if the statistics show that BSN graduates are in fact the best for the job! Why is it that we sit for the same exam and hold the same degree? If there is going to be a biased when hiring a "lower degree" then there needs to be a change with the actual degree system. I feel as though I along with fellow ADN graduates are being unfairly judged when a degree cannot accurately determine who the best R.N. for the position is.
If you think back when ADN nurses had problems getting hired, it was when the economy went down. Before that ADNs and BSN did not have a problem getting hired. But because there is a shortage, now hospital can be picky, and with so many unemployed new grads, they can knock out have of resumes just by selecting BSN only. BSN graduates are more qualify, but we're all in the same boat. Also there are tons of new grads BSN can't find employment, so that is not a guarantee. Whoever completed a ADN program should not feel less of a nurse. We all went through HELL to get that degree.
lolllll, well there was a job fair at the college, recently. 2 hospitals showed up, one at least took names/phone numbers/emails of people interested in a position on a sheet of paper. Who's to say what they'll actually do with that sheet of paper.
the other (ahem, LIJ) handed out flyers on how to submit your resume, online.
Neither of them were collecting resumes/cover letters, we all rushed to get there from clinical on time. Other students donned suits for the event, all to be turned away (basically) with a flyer. Thanks.
you need to reply to Robert the Idiot and request to see the "research" that has shown that patient outcomes are better when cared for by BSN grads. What a f-ing idiot. Seriously. So...my prior Bachelor's degree, a decade of professional management experience (including owning my own successful consulting firm) and an ADN don't make me more qualified? Please. He needs to say that to my face. Then he can go to see a BSN for care.
and by the way, I have no doubt Robert was referring to Atkins' and Nygaard's research from 2003, which has been widely criticized--by multiple state nursing associations and the National League for Nurses, for example. Aiken et al actually studied hospitals, not the educational level of nurses, individual nurses or patients. The educational data was only a piece of a secondary analysis of workload, not educational level.
I am a FIRM advocate of continuing and higher education, but using a cookie cutter approach to hiring nurses is just bad business. Forgive me, but it's simple common sense that I have a significantly different skill set than 22 year old BSN grads, thanks to MORE higher education and years of professional experience managing multiple projects, budgets and staff.
Furthermore, in my area, associate's degree programs have significantly higher licensing exam pass rates than every single 4 year program in our state, including the Ivy League programs. We all pass the same exam, and if nurses coming out of the 4 year programs have a harder time passing the test demonstrating clinical competence, it would seem that those programs simply aren't churning out better nurses. I am not criticizing all of you highly skilled BSN grads out there. I am merely stating that using a rudimentary cookie cutter when hiring nurses does NOT guarantee hiring the best candidate available.
Hate to break this to you guys, but the employment situation for RNs in NYC and NYS is probably going to get worse before it gets any better.
With St. Vincent's now closed, nearly 500 experienced RNs are now looking for work, this right before Spring 2010 churns out nursing school graduates.
SVCMC organised a job fair for their employees, and many local hospitals showed up and or are expressing interest in hiring. Continuum health system, according to published reports said it has frozen external hiring to accomodate St. Vinny's people.
On top of this NYS's health commissioner has also stated in the media that most all NYS hospitals are in rough financial shape. Even Fillipino nurses, once a huge mainstay at places such as Mount Sinai and other hospitals are finding themselves either unemployed or under employed. Hospitals in this area aren't bringing in visa nurses either.
As the nature of healthcare delivery changes, there simply isn't going to be a need for a hospital on every corner, and NYS, NYC in particular has too many hospitals all chasing the same groups of patients.
Things aren't going to get any better anytime soon for several reasons. One, the recession has hit hospitals hard due to declining admissions for elective surgery (always a big money maker). Two, both New York state and city are the most expensive places in the United States to operate a hospital. The new healthcare laws will perhaps mean less uninsured care provided, but it will also bring more patients whose coverage may or may not reimburse the hospitals cost. Medicare and Medicaid already do not, and NYS saw a huge cut to it's portion of that funding under the new laws.
Know quite a few nurses who work a shift or two at one hospital, then maybe per diem at another, or have two or more hospital jobs just to make ends meet. Right now hospitals are loathe to hire new grads when they can get experienced nurses.
Finally regarding the whole BSN vs ADN thing, in the end it will come down to what hospitals want. In this area, diploma schools closed for many reasons, one of them was that hospitals preferred college educated (ADN or BSN) nurses. Now with a glut of nurses both experienced and new grads, many places can afford to be choosy to fill the small number of openings they may have.
Will say this, as smaller independent and priviate hospitals close, and all we are left with are the vast healthcare network hospitals, if one system favours BSN nurses over ADN, that could affect several hospitals. Remember NYC is a very popular place for persons all over the United States to live and work. Many large New York hospitals recruit nurses from all over the country. So while there may not be that many BSN grads per year from local programs, there are a whole lot of BSN grads willing to move house to land a job.
Personally, think much of the future growth in employment for RNs in NYC is going to take place away from hospitals/the bedside. This in turn may favour a BSN grad over an ADN, depending upon how well the later is prepared to work on her own.
I hear you. I also really feel for the nurses who are still employed in the hospitals after all the cuts. Somehow they're supposed to maintain clinical excellence while completely overworked and understaffed. You know, I think the trend toward more care being delivered outside the hospital is great, and I would love to get a job in an outpatient setting. Unfortunately, they only hire nurses with acute care experience. It's a double edged sword. I just need to find something--anything--so I'll be able to afford my Master's. I'm beginning to think I should have gone to a physician assistant program.
SunshineRN79
150 Posts
a response... i am sickened! then why is it that 2 years ago associate program nurses were hired before bsn graduates???? something is fishy here!
thank you for taking the time to email me and share your thoughts on the nursing shortage. you are very well spoken and a strong advocate for patients and the nursing profession. our healthcare system is indeed broken, and serious steps must be taken to ensure that patients receive high quality, safe care. the research shows that nurses with high patient loads are spread too thin, and patients suffer the consequences. fortunately, the magnet hospital concept is catching on and more facilities are moving to limit nurse to patient ratios and enhance the nurse work environment. the current trend in not hiring new graduates in some parts of the country is a direct result of the recession which has impacted all sectors of the economy. this disruption in usual trends has resulted since nurses planning to retire are holding on to their jobs, some part-time nurses are now working full-time to make ends meet, and hospitals have instituted hiring freezes to help keep costs down. as the economy recovers, we do expect old patterns to re-emerge and many rn positions are expected to open soon. the rn workforce is still aging rapidly and a large wave of retirements is expected over the next 10 years. i know that some parts of the country are still experiencing shortages (like texas and missouri) and heard last week that new nursing grads can earn annual salaries of up to $80,000 if they opt to work in the delta region of mississippi. below are some links to jobs site that you may find useful. i do wish to offer some additional information about baccalaureate prepared and associate degree nurses. you should be proud of your magna cum laude standing and i know you worked hard to achieve this. but associate degree programs are not accelerated versions of baccalaureate programs, and bsn graduate do receive more in-depth and rigorous coursework in the sciences, research, community health, and management. the reason why magnet hospitals look to hire bsn grads is because they recognize a difference in these nurses, and the research is clear that patient outcomes are better when care is provided by bsn nurses. you are clearly a bright, committed nurse and i encourage you to continue your formal education (up through doctoral preparation!) because nursing needs strong leaders like you guiding the profession. best of luck to you in your job search. robert
health-care careerbulder http://health-care.careerbuilder.com
monster.com http://www.monster.com
nurse.com (nursing spectrum/nurse week) http://www.nurse.com
aftercollege http://www.aftercollege.com/job-channel/healthcare
us government/veterans affairs http://www.usajobs.gov
robert rosseter
chief communications officer
american association of colleges of nursing
one dupont circle, suite 530
washington, d.c. 20036
202-463-6930, x231
[email protected]