Surplus of Nurses - should I think twice?

whichone'spink, BSN, RN · Aug 19, 2016

Yes. Even if there isn't a surplus of nurses, the job itself is awful. Find something else to major in.

elkpark · Aug 19, 2016

Don't just think twice, think three times ...

Maple2016 · Aug 19, 2016

Thank you so much!!!! Much appreciated.

quiltynurse56, LPN, LVN · Aug 19, 2016

And if you still want to go into nursing, go into nursing.

SmilingBluEyes · Aug 19, 2016

Go ahead and go in IF your job outlook where you plan to practice looks better than this. Otherwise, you may find yourself in a LONG LONG line of new grads who are out of school a year, 2 or more and no job in sight.

So yea, you better think twice.

llg, PhD, RN · Aug 19, 2016

You can't put much stock into such newspaper articles. You can find one that says almost anything you want one to say.

If you really want to be a nurse because nursing is what you want to do with your life -- then be a nurse. Just make sure you get a good education from a highly respected school and get the proper clinical experiences along the way. If there is ever a surplus, the nurses with the best credentials will be the ones favored to get the jobs. That's the way it is in every field. The people with the best preparation tend to be OK and it's the people who are not as well prepared who struggle the most. Don't put yourself in the "lower levels" of education, experience, and credentials and you should be OK. People will still need nurses -- just maybe not in the same ways or jobs as they need them now. Be prepared.

Maple2016 · Aug 19, 2016

Thank you so much! Nursing will be my second career. I have a CPA and 43 yo. I am on NY-NJ-CT area. I don't see myself continue to do taxes now let alone when I am 60 yo. I am thinking that after doing an accelerated bachelor in nursing I will work on LTC. While working there I may pursue to become an adult nurse practitioner(or FNP) and continue to work on LTC as a nurse practitioner until I reach my retirement age or beyond. Does my plan look too far fetched? Would the experience only on LTC as a RN would be sufficient to be an adult nurse practitioner in LTC? I appreciate all your time on reading my posts and responding to them.

martymoose, BSN, RN · Aug 22, 2016

question. why cant you see yourself doing taxes at 60?

llg, PhD, RN · Aug 22, 2016

If you had a terrible career with no prospects, I'd be encouraging you to look for a 2nd career. But you have a good career that pays reasonably well and will definitely be needed by clients in the years ahead. I think it would be a terrible financial move to invest in a nursing career at this time of your life.

If you need a change in your current situation to give you more personal satisfaction from "helping people," -- build on the skills you already have to help people. Invest in a little CPA career development to enhance your credentials/experience to open up new avenues for you to fulfill your sense of altruism. That would be a lot easier, cheaper, and less risky than gambling big bucks on a whole new career you don't even know if you would enjoy.

Here are some thoughts on "helping people" as a CPA:

1. Volunteer some of you time with a community agency that helps people. Maybe you can find one that provides CPA services to poor people, fledgling businesses, charity groups, churches, etc.

2. Work as a CPA for a charity -- or some other non-profit organzation

3. Is there some enhancement to your CPA credentials that you could get to open up some new pathways for your career?

HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD · Aug 22, 2016

Great advice from llg, especially since OP would be pushing 50 by the time that NP goal was realized... not much time to realize a return on such a significant investment. Also - in my part the country, there aren't any NPs who practice exclusively in LTC. Is this a new model of care that's developing?

Maple2016 · Aug 25, 2016

Thank you so much for all your honest comments!

1. Wherever I have worked I haven't seen any 60 y.o. doing taxes even if they liked it. The employers prefer younger employees. So the question is if I have a RN license at 60 y.o. versus a CPA license ( I have a master in taxation too) do I have more job prospects as a nurse or as a CPA? I went to indeed.com and I did searched for jobs in the states of NY, CT, NJ, PA using once the keyword tax and later nurse. The number of jobs that came up under nurse keyword where 3-7 times more than the number of jobs that came under the keyword tax. I understand that the role of supply and demand for each profession. So the question would be is ageism more problematic for a nurse at 60 y.o. or for a CPA? I have seen the latest and that's why I am thinking about nursing. But if I have end up being unemployed at 60 y.o. even with a RN license (or NP) than I would rather be unemployed with a CPA license.

2. I am exploring the possibility of enhancing my credentials of my CPA and Master in Tax and I have been advised my recruiters to not pursue any credetionals right know until I found a job relevant to that credentials. I am currently employed and not working in a CPA firm. Another thing, I started working at big4 public accounting firms over a decade ago and I have seen over the years a lot of tax jobs at the CPA firms being outsourced to India just like IT jobs or like manufacturing job being outsourced to China. I have seen US private companies outsource their tax and accounting departments work to public accounting firms which majority of it is ultimately done in India. Other private companies have outsourced directly majority of their administration work overseas in India, the Philipines, Venezuela etc. Unless in the next 20 years the nursing jobs in US are replaced with robots I don't see nursing job going down. That's why a lot of second career nurses that I saw on this website have pursued nursing after seeing their professional jobs being directly or indirectly outsourced overseas.

3. Since this is an important decision to make I am taking some time to think about it.