Nursing Shortage!! It's real and it bites (new grads, can't find a job? Read this post!)

[klone]

I had no idea, when I took a job as a nurse manager of an inpatient unit at a rural hospital that's 4 hours away from the nearest large city, that a huge portion of my job stress would come from the fact that we DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH NURSES!!

Every unit at our facility has job openings. We have dozens of travelers. My department basically has just enough nurses to cover core staffing. What that means is - if there's a sick call, or a PTO request, or a medical leave of absence, we're short.

Thank Dog that my unit is awesome and they are a team and a family and are invested in the unit, because when we're short, the nurses pull together and volunteer to take OT and work 16 hour shifts.

The point of this post...if you're a new grad, and you can't find a job because the market is so competitive and every place is wanting a BSN...consider relocating! Look for those facilities that are in rural communities, or small towns that are >2 hours away from the nearest metro area that probably has multiple schools and a steady stream of new grad nurses to fill positions.

Coming from Denver, I had no idea that there really were places in the US that had shortages, but it's true, and it sucks. For patients, for communities, and for the nurses who are working short-staffed or working 60-hour work weeks because, well, we have no other options.

[yli08]

New grads, are you having anymore luck?

[vsheehan]

klone said:

When someone submits an application, it goes directly to my in-box as well as HR's. I am first contact with the applicant, not HR.

And I can only speak to my facility of course, but what Rocknurse is describing is very much NOT the case. Oregon has strict staffing laws. We cannot compel people to work OT. And travelers are VERY expensive. There is no incentive to the department or the facility to NOT hire permanent nurses to fill open positions.

If it's on the HR website as an open position, then it's already gone through the approval process. HR does not post it until it's approved.

And no, it's not part of a larger hospital network. It's just an independent community hospital.

Oregon, I would move there if not for my kids.

[vsheehan]

No, only job openings is in SNFs

[klone, MSN, RN]

Still in the same boat as we were when I first posted this. Still have several open positions, and 10% of my nursing staff going out on FMLA leave over then next six months. Still unable to sleep at night.

[New_Man_Nurse]

Is there a nursing shortage lie? Does this keep the colleges full of students?

Defined: a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive; an intentional untruth; a falsehood. something intended or serving to convey a false impression; imposture.

After becoming a AS-RN, I was told Hospitals would no longer be hiring AS-RNs, the obvious option was to get that BSN. After getting the BSN the hospitals said, there are many people, many fine candidates with 4.0 GPA's, you were not selected. Landing a job in Home Health se.0emed like at least some way to continue to serve. Hospitals were saying that 5 years in Home Health didn't amount to 1 year of acute care, and he couldn't be hired on a med/surg floor. Ok then, a terminal degree would fulfill that life time goal of being educated, what should one do? Change professional from the "worlds most trusted profession, to some other profession?

Not really, a 4.0 GPA and a great understanding of the profession, it won't hurt to grab that Master's before I'm too old. So the Master's, my home health company and those friends had no time for a case manager that didn't work Mondays thru Sundays, so a break again from home health to become a top educated RN. What an honor right. Maybe not. 350 applications later and not one interview, or call, nothing but fake headhunters with "behavioral questions", is this ageism, a flooded market?

Master's done! 4.0, Suma Cun Laude, time to get that med surg outta the way, no more education needed. Advanced Practice wouldn't really be nursing, its is being a provider. Whats next? Another 300 applications, same answer, we found someone that was a better candidate for all 300 jobs? Then a headhunter for a major hospital told me. "I don't know why that a new RN can't be hired, that 1 year experience policy is stupid", no one can work without 1 year acute experience, and no one can be hired without it"? I simply can't place you in any position, sorry.

So, FNP? DNP? Folks if there was really a shortage of nurses I would be working everywhere. The truth is the hospitals are playing the traveler game. Several excuses are being used for refusing to hire nurses with adequate wages, and benefits. "We want to make sure you are a good fit". "We want to make sure after you are orientated, you aren't going to leave"! These excuses are just the ranting of the monopoly that is the health care system I guess.

See: Council of Economic Advisors Brief. (2016, October). Labor Market Monopsony: Trends, consequences, and policy responses. Retrieved from https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/page/files/20161025_monopsony_labor_mrkt_cea.pdf

Shouldn't our colleges be informing students, and potential students about how this lie of shortages is not related to, or how it doesn't translate into substantial employment? This isn's a shortage its a "At-Will" employment fraud. IT forces nurses into signing a "At-Will" contract, instead of promoting a "good cause" employment contract. The nature of employment is contractual, signing an at-will contract destroys the definition of Federal Labor Laws, and is a fraud on nurses.

There is no shortage, only greed and deception. (Mostly greed). We are nurses, and at every practice level we do the job, we get it done, we put everyone else first, in the traditions of Flo, and Rogers, Watson, and Lewin. We are agents of change, satisfying customers, providing quality care within legal scope, cost effectively saving the bottom line, without lowering the safety and standard of evidence based practice, we are art, we are caring, we are the ethic, the bottom line, those that stand up when our patients cannot.

Are we jokes? I say we are and every new person that finds this calling should know the immoral and unethical lie you will be told. Is there another explanation? So you want to be a nurse? Do you?

[klone, MSN, RN]

New_Man_Nurse said:

Is there a nursing shortage lie? Does this keep the colleges full of students?

Defined: a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive; an intentional untruth; a falsehood. something intended or serving to convey a false impression; imposture.

After becoming a AS-RN, I was told Hospitals would no longer be hiring AS-RNs, the obvious option was to get that BSN. After getting the BSN the hospitals said, there are many people, many fine candidates with 4.0 GPA's, you were not selected. Landing a job in Home Health se.0emed like at least some way to continue to serve. Hospitals were saying that 5 years in Home Health didn't amount to 1 year of acute care, and he couldn't be hired on a med/surg floor. Ok then, a terminal degree would fulfill that life time goal of being educated, what should one do? Change professional from the "worlds most trusted profession, to some other profession?

Not really, a 4.0 GPA and a great understanding of the profession, it won't hurt to grab that Master's before I'm too old. So the Master's, my home health company and those friends had no time for a case manager that didn't work Mondays thru Sundays, so a break again from home health to become a top educated RN. What an honor right. Maybe not. 350 applications later and not one interview, or call, nothing but fake headhunters with "behavioral questions", is this ageism, a flooded market?

Master's done! 4.0, Suma Cun Laude, time to get that med surg outta the way, no more education needed. Advanced Practice wouldn't really be nursing, its is being a provider. Whats next? Another 300 applications, same answer, we found someone that was a better candidate for all 300 jobs? Then a headhunter for a major hospital told me. "I don't know why that a new RN can't be hired, that 1 year experience policy is stupid", no one can work without 1 year acute experience, and no one can be hired without it"? I simply can't place you in any position, sorry.

So, FNP? DNP? Folks if there was really a shortage of nurses I would be working everywhere. The truth is the hospitals are playing the traveler game. Several excuses are being used for refusing to hire nurses with adequate wages, and benefits. "We want to make sure you are a good fit". "We want to make sure after you are orientated, you aren't going to leave"! These excuses are just the ranting of the monopoly that is the health care system I guess.

See: Council of Economic Advisors Brief. (2016, October). Labor Market Monopsony: Trends, consequences, and policy responses. Retrieved from

https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/page/files/20161025_monopsony_labor_mrkt_cea.pdf

Shouldn't our colleges be informing students, and potential students about how this lie of shortages is not related to, or how it doesn't translate into substantial employment? This isn's a shortage its a "At-Will" employment fraud. IT forces nurses into signing a "At-Will" contract, instead of promoting a "good cause" employment contract. The nature of employment is contractual, signing an at-will contract destroys the definition of Federal Labor Laws, and is a fraud on nurses.

There is no shortage, only greed and deception. (Mostly greed). We are nurses, and at every practice level we do the job, we get it done, we put everyone else first, in the traditions of Flo, and Rogers, Watson, and Lewin. We are agents of change, satisfying customers, providing quality care within legal scope, cost effectively saving the bottom line, without lowering the safety and standard of evidence based practice, we are art, we are caring, we are the ethic, the bottom line, those that stand up when our patients cannot.

Are we jokes? I say we are and every new person that finds this calling should know the immoral and unethical lie you will be told. Is there another explanation? So you want to be a nurse? Do you?

Do you feel better now?

[klone, MSN, RN]

klone said:

Still in the same boat as we were when I first posted this. Still have several open positions, and 10% of my nursing staff going out on FMLA leave over then next six months. Still unable to sleep at night.

Since this was bumped up by someone's bizarre rant, I thought I'd update. We hired every new grad who applied to our unit (luckily they were all also really strong, smart candidates, we really lucked out with this group). So all our open positions are filled, but with a green staff that won't be labor trained and independent for well over a year.

Still lying in bed awake at night, and working my staff until they're fried to a crisp, and coming in on weekends to help out when we're short. Ilovemyjobilovemyjobilovemyjobilovemyjob

[tnbutterfly - Mary, BSN]

klone said:

Since this was bumped up by someone's bizarre rant, I thought I'd update. We hired every new grad who applied to our unit (luckily they were all also really strong, smart candidates, we really lucked out with this group). So all our open positions are filled, but with a green staff that won't be labor trained and independent for well over a year.

Still lying in bed awake at night, and working my staff until they're fried to a crisp, and coming in on weekends to help out when we're short. Ilovemyjobilovemyjobilovemyjobilovemyjob

Thank you for confirming that there is indeed a nursing shortage in parts of the country!! Contrary to the belief of some, we are not making this up.