Nursing shortage

Published

Right here in my brand new textbook, copyright 2015, chapter 1, page 9, "The United States continues to face a nursing shortage."

SMH

Nurse educators perpetuate the belief that there is a nursing shortage for their own job security. If potential nursing students know the truth, that there are shortage/surplus cycles and nursing is currently in a surplus cycle, fewer students will enter nursing programs and fewer nursing professors will be needed.

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Specializes in geriatrics.

There is a nursing shortage......but no one wants to hire the required numbers. Of course nursing educators cannot speak the truth because enrollment would drop.

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Right here in my brand new textbook, copyright 2015, chapter 1, page 9, "The United States continues to face a nursing shortage."

SMH

My school tried to pull that card on us when we started. Told us how getting a job would be "no problem" and we could choose the area we wanted to work in relatively easily if we went in with a co-sponsored program with the local healthcare system.

Then when we graduated they told us things had all changed and blah blah blah. I said "No. No dice. I applied for this job, and I want it." Well...I got it. Took me nearly 3 months, but I did get it. I am happy for it, and loved it for the last nearly 5 years.

They will tell you what they want to get your money, and then reality will happen once you graduate and learn about how it really works. We had instructors trying to convince us that our BSN's would make us God's gift to the hospital. How we would know so much more than the MD about what is really going on with the patient and how the RN degree was not a real degree and how the CNA's were totally ignorant and blah blah blah. All they did was turn out a bunch of snobs that people hated working with and hiring, I was later told. I always treated the housekeeping staff identical to the surgeon, and it's done me a solid. SO my advice?

Nursing school is for taking your money. Pass the tests, learn the material, ignore the advice.

There may be a nursing shortage on someone's database, but I promise when you are job hunting you won't notice that little "fact" unless you apply to a hospital that nurses are running away from...

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Specializes in Mental Health.

Nursing jobs come in waves but it seems the area I work in there are a lot of nursing positions open. My own unit can't seem to find enough nurses to work there.

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Specializes in NICU.
Your textbook is already outdated and I agree with roser13, odd that a text would print something that is so fluid....

That just makes it easier for professors to justify requiring students to purchase the $200 newest edition of the text, rather than the $30 year-old one... :sarcastic:

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According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics that were 2,711,500 nursing jobs in the US. From 2012-2022 there are an estimated 526,800 nursing jobs to be created at 19% increase.

So I guess the term "shortage" will be relative to how healthcare develops. How many nurses will retire in the next 8 years? How many new nurses join the workforce (graduate college and become licensed) How much will healthcare change in terms of patient care and healthcare reform. Will the hospitals or medical facilities hire nurses to lower the nurse/patient ratios that are at staggering high levels. The positions that are open, will you be qualified for.

So there are a lot of nursing jobs and more to be created but there are many other factors that goes into what creates a "shortage". The prediction is that many older nurses will leave the profession and retire and there will be a need to fill those gaps. Now if that happens and if the hospitals hire to help with patient safety instead of trying to keep the money in their pockets is to be determined.

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That just makes it easier for professors to justify requiring students to purchase the $200 newest edition of the text, rather than the $30 year-old one... :sarcastic:

Nah, what got me was all the assignments/chapters are "shuffled" so it's a monumental pain not to have the edition the professor is using. You tend to miss test questions because you read something different than you were supposed to. I actually had professors who tested ONLY on lecture/PPT both as a way of insuring attendance (pre-nursing), and as a way of saving students money on what they viewed as extortionist prices.

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Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.
Right now, where I live, hospitals are hiring lots of nurses.

It seems hiring goes in phases. First there won't be jobs anywhere, and then there are jobs everywhere. I've seen it happen for a long time.

Hiring on the Planet Saturn? Not very helpful for most nurses!

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We have a ton of openings in my health system presently and they are offering $5000 to employees for referrals. Nevermind they cut our pay last year by 13%. Good times.

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Specializes in ninja nursing.
That just makes it easier for professors to justify requiring students to purchase the $200 newest edition of the text, rather than the $30 year-old one... :sarcastic:

shh! You're not supposed to tell them that!

Actually, why is anyone buying textbooks anymore? I would post the website but I'm sure it'll get blocked. I survived nursing school by renting and having the postage paid for both ways for free.

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Thanks for data vs personal experience/anecdote, R2BRN. Here's a direct link to the US BLS statistics.

Here's another to the HRSA 2012-2025 report.

Looking at page 2, prospects aren't great for LPNs and RNs. For APNs, the outlook is better as they're being asked to pick up the ball to address the [very real] primary-care physician shortage.

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well Nurse Educators.... speak up!!! defend this if you can ;)

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