None of you will like what I have to say. But let me kick the hard truth to you. Honestly about 50% of people I talk to are in nursing school or are taking pre-reqs for nursing school. This is a major red flag for several reasons. If you have not noticed, nursing wages/benefits have been on the down trend.
Pension?? goodbye.
Crud 401k 403b plans hello. Raise? LOL "sorry hospital is working out financial issues, maybe next year".
Nevermind if you work for a community/SNF agency. Yet insurance companies, medicare derived/gov agencies, and anyone else from the top 1% will continue to blast the RN as "shortage" in order to drive drones of students into nursing schools pulling each others hair out on the way to land a seat. Proof of this is, let's see (ABSN ***** ADN, BSN, diploma, LPN/LVN bridge to RN programs, RN to BSN) Why do these different routes exist? To flood the RN market as fast as possible to drive the wage, need, and profession into the ground.
Let's look at our oh so loyal CNA's. If you can find one that isn't in nursing school to be a nurse, ask them how much they make?
Look at LPN's 20-30 years ago and look at them today??
Surely the ANA and other organizations treated them with respect. The RN is next, so make sure to support your local nursing agency so they can do nothing for you. So they can be paid off by organizations so powerful that no one can say no and "not have the power to stop a bill". So they can continue to cry nursing shortage when this is not true.
RNs today are treated like children and are required to demonstrate fundamental task and other skills in inservices which were designed for nothing else but cut throat. To place blame of UTI's and poor patient satisfaction on the nurse.
If you are an RN today, your only safety net is to become an APRN if you want to live comfortably but in several decades the APRN will be under attack just like the LPN had been an RNs currently are. "OH the aging population is going to need nurses" You really think so?
Nursing homes are shutting down and now elderly people live at home with "24 hour care takers" that get paid **** wages and do things only an RN should be doing. You don't think so? Wake up.
None of this is to say that I hate nursing. I love helping people who are mentally ill, suffering from dementia, sick, or on their death beds. It is when we do great things for them that my love for nursing shines. There aren't other people standing around to reward you for your great deeds.
When the family comes in the next day complaining about everything, they never had a chance to see how well their dying loved one was cared for. Your good deeds will never be rewarded, but in a safe place in your heart.
I am just here to open the eyes of people who are intelligent and looking for a new career. I think you may find better job security else where. Invest your time in classes and money else where. Nursing is honestly under great attack right now and the future is black.
3. Nursing needs to implement slightly higher barriers to entry. Moreover, entry requirements should be standardized and consistent across the country.
Actually, I think it could stand to be SIGNIFICANTLY higher. I guess it was difficult to get into my program but based on some of the things people report struggling with, that should have been sorted out LONG before applying. I was shocked at how easy the TEAS was. It is disappointing that people are reporting their success on the THIRD (let alone 10th) try for the NCLEX.
There are no doubt exceptions on all aspects of the spectrum, but in general I think GPA reflects several characteristics of applicants at that point in time.
GPA is just a convenient way of weeding out applicants. Truth be told, intelligence and grades is not the way to success, all it does it get you thru the door. Looks, youth, personality, charm and who you know matters a whole lot more than knowledge in the real world!
I agree that the expectation to move to find employment is a little much. It may be a good option for those with no family, but a lot of nurses are 2nd career people. Most of us in that boat have kids, a significant other that works, maybe already own their home. It's not realistic to expect people to uproot their whole lives just to find a job.[/quote
But if you are living in a city with say a dozen colleges graduating RN's each semester I think it might be inevitable that some nurses will have to move to get a job. Even though you think oh a city has lots of hospitals, actually hospitals close down in the city due to poor reimbursement and there is more hospital, clinic etc growth in the suburbs and outlying areas. City hospitals in some places have already closed down, others are at risk of doing so over financial concerns. Moving may not be idealistic or optimal, but it might be necessary given this reality.
You are right, and I have to say I didn't think about that. We have a very strong hospital system here, as a matter of fact both the major players are expanding. I do still think it sucks to be in position of uprooting your entire family to find a job, but I guess if the nurse in the family is the primary breadwinner, well..you do what you gotta do.
Specializes in Mental Health, Gerontology, Palliative.
I agree with all of the above. In relation to point 2, those groups control the quality of entrance by having a national standard, followed by national licensure. We do have a national test, the NCLEX, but then we are licensed by our individual states. Why? So each state can make money off of licensing the RN. Compact status needs to mean more than just being licensed in multiple states by virtue of where one lives, it should also mean a national clinical and professional standard.
In this way points 1, 3 and 4 can come to fruition.
I also agree the glut of nurses will continue to worsen. There is a large monetary incentive for the schools [tuition money] and healthcare facilities [ability to hire the cheapest staff] to keep this system running.
The curriculum of our nursing schools is regulated by nursing council which is a national entity. All graduates must pass their three year degree before being allowed to sit state finals which is the US equivalent of NCLEX. My nursing school has consistently had a 98-100% pass rate first time. If someone fails once, they get one resit. After that I dont really know because none of my friends didnt pass states on the first go
We are also regulated by national legislation which governs competency once registered
It works well having a standardised approach to education
I was a civil engineer back 15 years ago. Great job, money, etc etc. Then had a huge influx of engineers come to the scene. This was 2002. Engineers were a dime a dozen. I go to nursing school and now everyone is a nurse. There's so many nursing schools in the Dallas area it's sickening. Now, engineers are back in hot demand. So I think it just goes with the ebb and flow.
Just imagine that all of your hard-won, socked-away $$ dwindling to sometimes less than half their value, as so many of us experienced in the latest recession. You too might end up fighting to stay relevant and on top of your game in order to keep working. Granted some nurses have the "I'm working til I die in my shoes" mentality, but I firmly believe that most of those who currently work to such ages are doing so due to financial downturns. All the while enduring the not-so-subtle hints in places such as AN.com that they "should" retire and get out of the way for the tide of new grads.
Yes but if you are in the stock market and your retirement fund drops, you have to stay the course and wait for it to recover. It finally has, granted it has taken years, but if you didn't panic and pull out of stocks at the bottom you should be doing ok now and able to think about retiring. But now that stocks have rebounded it's time to think about diversifying into bonds and even CD's, Cash etc before the stock market crashes again! But also if you are near retirement you should be moving out of stocks even before the market crashed, but you don't change course when stocks are at the bottom because then you can never recoup the lost money!
It never said there was not a shortage. It stated "Assuming RNs continue to train at the current levels and accounting for new entrants andattrition, the RN supply is expected to grow by 952,000 full-time equivalents (FTEs) –from 2,897,000 FTEs in 2012 to 3,849,000 FTEs in 2025 – a 33 percent increasenationally.• The nationwide demand for RNs, however, is projected to grow by only 612,000 FTEs –from 2,897,000 FTEs in 2012 to 3,509,000 FTEs in 2025 – a 21 percent increase."
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
Yes but if you are in the stock market and your retirement fund drops, you have to stay the course and wait for it to recover. It finally has, granted it has taken years, but if you didn't panic and pull out of stocks at the bottom you should be doing ok now and able to think about retiring. But now that stocks have rebounded it's time to think about diversifying into bonds and even CD's, Cash etc before the stock market crashes again! But also if you are near retirement you should be moving out of stocks even before the market crashed, but you don't change course when stocks are at the bottom because then you can never recoup the lost money!
I think you're missing the point. The point wasn't on how to wisely invest your money. The point was that people did what they were supposed to do, saved their money and invested it so it would grow. And then the stock market crashed and the money went away. People who thought they would be able to retire about now haven't recouped those losses yet. People did what they though would result in a comfortable retirement, and that didn't happen. There's an emotional component. And then they come here to a nursing forum and read all sorts of nasty posts from newbies who are convinced that all of THEIR problems would magically disappear if the older nurses would just retire and get out of their way.
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
The entire reason I became a CNA in the first place was to make sure nursing was the field for me. It is, and I love it.
I think people who started as CNAs and worked their way up make the best nurses. No, not "evidence-based" but then again my idea of who is an outstanding nurse is usually arrived at before I know anything about their prior education.
As far as the topic I would never say to anyone that they shouldn't be a nurse, but I would make it point to tell them the school's rosy scenario is inaccurate.
The gigantic jump in new students and new grads I believe is due to our finally seeing the results of a multitude of strategies finally coming into fruition. Because it takes time for trends to become statistically measurable, the massive frontloading was and is still accelerating. Dr.Peter Buerhaus, I believe was the first academic to publish these findings several years ago. He got very little attention at the time because nursing schools feared for the safety of their jobs and their bank accounts.
It's sort of like a car with a clogged fuel line. You continue to step on the gas pedal because you think nothing is happening and find yourself surging forward without expecting it. The really interesting thing is that the government experts have been the last ones to catch this "sudden" increase in new students and new grads.
I doubt we will ever see the shortage return to what it was like in 70s and 80s. What happened then was (opinion only) the resurgent feminist movement discouraged many young women from entering professions associated almost exclusively with gender at that time. I may be the only one who recalls that the Los Angeles Times Classified literally had an entire newspaper in a newspaper just for nursing jobs dangling all sorts of goodies in big block letters just to lure you in.
Spot on. I went to nursing school in Laramie, WY. Lived in Ft. Collins, CO, 60 miles North of Denver. NO NURSING JOBS. WHY? Well, within a 100 mile radius, there's the University of Wyoming, University of Northern Colorado, University of Colorado-Denver, Denver University, Laramie County Community College, Aims County Community College, Denver Community College, 20+ IBMC's, Everest college, U-phoenix, Regis, etc, etc, etc. Unless you're someone super in with senior management, without 5+ years previous post grad experience, plus BSN, there's no hope getting in anywhere... and the 'good' places where 'acquired' by UCH. Everything is census based now, nurses are sent home on a whim. Rack up student loan debt and only DNPs and CNMs have a chance to qualify for any sort of reasonable loan-repayment outside the military. Welcome to reality post 'nurse shortage' bubble. Most of the community colleges in the area and the private schools push out a new class of 'new grads' EVERY SEMESTER.
la_chica_suerte85, BSN, RN
1,260 Posts
Actually, I think it could stand to be SIGNIFICANTLY higher. I guess it was difficult to get into my program but based on some of the things people report struggling with, that should have been sorted out LONG before applying. I was shocked at how easy the TEAS was. It is disappointing that people are reporting their success on the THIRD (let alone 10th) try for the NCLEX.