Nursing Shortage Real or Not....

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Nov 20, 2008

A nursing shortage exists in some job markets. However, other job markets are experiencing a nursing surplus, where too many nurses are saturating the geographical area.

In addition, it's imperative that you take the slumping economy into consideration. When the economy is sour, people have less money due to unemployment, rising cost of living, or stagnant wages. When people have no money or are uninsured, they avoid going to hospitals for elective surgeries, which translates into less patients, which means less nurses are needed. Contrary to popular notions, nursing is not a recession-proof field.

People will always need healthcare, but a terrible economic climate will sometimes keep them from seeking it unless it is an absolute emergency.

ShayRN · Nov 20, 2008

As many have said before, there is a shortage of nurses willing to work under the conditions given by the hospital adminstrators. There is a surplus in areas because of hospital closing, but also because the administrator continue to base staffing on numbers and profit rather than what is indeed safe for the patient and doable for the nurses. I long for the day we have mandatory staffing ratios throughout the country.

Valerie Salva, BSN, RN · Nov 20, 2008

Lol, I just finished posting in another thread on this very topic.

I think that most of us may agree that the "nursing shortage" always has been greatly exagerated by the media, and by the health-care industry as a scare tactic, and as an excuse not to staff more reasonably.

RNnightingale12 · Nov 20, 2008

TheCommuter I do understand the economy is in a slump at this point. But some of these hospitals have been in trouble long before this reccession. I agree this economy is effecting this profession. You have peole that were ready to retire holding off because there retirement accounts got cut in half because of the market. You have inactive nurses coming back to feed their familes. You have nurses who left our profession coming back. I also agree with you about patients not seeking care. They can't seek care cause they lost their jobs which means they lost their healthcare insurance. There are so many different factors effecting this profession which makes it hard for new grad nurses. Thank you for your thoughts TheCommuter.

llg, PhD, RN · Nov 20, 2008

I just feel that nursing schools need to stop telling their sudents how easy it is to find a job. Times have changed.
People need to stop blaming nursing and this nursing shortage that is no longer in effect. They should blame hospital administration for mismanaging money for poor patient care. Obviously if many hospitals are at risk for closing or are closing because of this I don't think it's because of the nursing shortage. STOP BLAMING NURSING FOR EVERYTHING! Yes we are in a recession and yes it is effecting nursing but if you check the dates on some of these articles these hospitals have been in trouble from long before this recession started.

Good post.

I definitely agree that schools should stop misleading their students about the job market. Not only is it harder to find a job now, but there were problems with setting up false expectations even when the job market was better. Many students developed unrealistic expectations of what their jobs would be like and then faced great reality shock after graduation. They expected to be able to "write their own ticket" after graduation -- and when they found out that employers still had expectations of high levels of performance, flexibility in scheduling, etc., they were shocked. Many of those people left the profession having wasted a lot of resources and only making matters worse for the nurses who remained.

It was NEVER right to give students such a rosey picture of the workworld.

madwife2002, BSN, RN · Nov 20, 2008

If nurses are willing to work the 'hard' floors there are always jobs in the med surg floors. I remember when I was first a Nurse looking for a job back in the early 90's they were throwing out RN's every 8 weeks to fill the nursing 'shortage' so when there was an abundance of RN's who couldn't find jobs they stopped training so many nurses and everything equaled out. I do know they are training more nurses than ever now so they may have to review the amount needed, because there is no point in training thousands to be unemployed

Valerie Salva, BSN, RN · Nov 20, 2008

If nurses are willing to work the 'hard' floors there are always jobs in the med surg floors. I remember when I was first a Nurse looking for a job back in the early 90's they were throwing out RN's every 8 weeks to fill the nursing 'shortage' so when there was an abundance of RN's who couldn't find jobs they stopped training so many nurses and everything equaled out. I do know they are training more nurses than ever now so they may have to review the amount needed, because there is no point in training thousands to be unemployed

I'm willing to work the "hard" floors, but not the impossible floors. I left a med-surg unit where I was routinely assigned 10 or more pts. I have applied at hospitals with better staffing, but have never been offered a job in one of their med-surg units, as there is a lot of competition for nursing jobs where I live.

RNnightingale12 · Nov 20, 2008

Good post.
I definitely agree that schools should stop misleading their students about the job market. Not only is it harder to find a job now, but there were problems with setting up false expectations even when the job market was better. Many students developed unrealistic expectations of what their jobs would be like and then faced great reality shock after graduation. They expected to be able to "write their own ticket" after graduation -- and when they found out that employers still had expectations of high levels of performance, flexibility in scheduling, etc., they were shocked. Many of those people left the profession having wasted a lot of resources and only making matters worse for the nurses who remained.
It was NEVER right to give students such a rosey picture of the workworld.

You said it so perfectly llg! It was so hard even just to get anything as a new grad. New grads always get dumped on. We just want a chance to do good in this profession. Some of us gave up so much to go to nursing school and in nursing school and then study so hard for the NCLEX and by the time we pass and try to find jobs it's months of no pay, lost sleep, and worry. If new grads were already prepared in our minds that we were to take what we can to expose ourselves we wouldn't be so disappointed not to find our dream job. Yes, the dream job must be earned. But when you are willing and able and no one is there with open arms it's disappointing.

I just read another post about this topic and one person wrote that they thought some new grads only care about money. Sorry, but once upon time many exp RN's were once in our shoes. Please extend yourselves and humble yourselves to try to understand how hard it is for new grad nurses at this time. some of us borrowed alot of money to fullfill this dream. And if we are complaning about not finding jobs it's because we have school loans to pay back, rent/mortgages, car payments, child care, groceries, etc just like you all. It's not because we are in it for the wrong reasons. No one has to justify themeselves for why they go into nursing to anyone. And honestly it's comments like that which make is so disheartening for new grads. As, RN's we should be commpassionate to each other rather being so judgemental and eating their young.

RNnightingale12 · Nov 20, 2008

If nurses are willing to work the 'hard' floors there are always jobs in the med surg floors. I remember when I was first a Nurse looking for a job back in the early 90's they were throwing out RN's every 8 weeks to fill the nursing 'shortage' so when there was an abundance of RN's who couldn't find jobs they stopped training so many nurses and everything equaled out. I do know they are training more nurses than ever now so they may have to review the amount needed, because there is no point in training thousands to be unemployed

I think there are many new grad nurses that are willing and able and just want a chance. I think they are doing more training because medicine and nursing is evolving. There are new technologies and nursing is based on nursing theory, practice and research which is only making our profession more respectable. Nursing schools base their model on the nursing theory. In this medical climate which is evolving all the time continuing education is necessary. Also quailty managment and safety became and are issues. People wanna sue each other for everything now-a-days. So hospitals want and need to educate their staff to be able to provide and safe and effective care and I think this is why many teaching hospitals are taking note and are investing their time and money into nurse residency training programs. It's cheaper to ensure good education to staff rather than getting sued it's more cost efficient. As RN's we should take heed to the fact that many employers want to invest in their employees to provide safe and effective care. This will only take our profession into a more respectable realm in the field of healthcare. Some doctors are always complaining that the nurses dont know anything and some hospitals are trying to address this by ensuring they have well informed, trained, and good nurses.

Dinith88 · Nov 20, 2008

If the current *national* economic down-slide continues, the nursing shortage will fade considerably. Healthcare-sector jobs are (if anything) secure...which will undoubtedly draw even more people into the profession. Good for administrators (lower-wages, more 'selection', less demand, etc.)...bad for nurses (same reasons). Shortage will become (if not already) a myth.

hope3456, ASN, RN · Nov 20, 2008

-new grad RN's will be facing more competition now than a couple years ago b/c there are so many. the truth is that nursing schools HAVE increased their admission #'s in recent years. The CC i went to MORE THAN doubled their student numbers about 5 years ago. It was so hard for new grads to get jobs at the local hospitals I moved to a more rural area just to get a medsurg job.