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.
The concentration camp comparison is so far off. Floor nursing conditions aren't ideal, but to compare it to concentration camp labor is insensitive at best. Kind of like comparing it to slavery. It's an apples to dinosaurs comparison. Let's not diminish the experience of concentration camp survivors by comparing it to working in a profession that's difficult, but also pays pretty well, has the public's trust, and that we're free to leave at any time without fear of being hunted down and shot.
This is kind of a sore spot with me because concentration camps still exist in my husband's homeland, in 2015.
That said, stop volunteering your lunch break time. If you don't have time to take your break, take the proper steps to get paid for it. If you don't, you're giving your employer permission to work you for free.
Volunteering?? I hope not!! A requirement for entry? My goodness. I had 2 kids and two jobs as a CNA prior to entering the nursing field. There would of been no way I could've fit all that in. Maybe if I was 18 and still living at home.
The shortage is based on patient acuity and assignments. The problem is 10 years ago you had 1 nurse taking care of 2 or 3 high acuity pts. These days hospitals are abusing the nurse and have doubled the pt load, thereby slashing the staffing need in half. We work like concentration camp survivors. No breaks no water allowed at med carts... rule after rule. Work harder give more!!!
I already volunteer my time by not getting a lunch break and all the other CE's that I have to do to keep my job.
The problem with greedy CEO's running hospitals... Gotta find the money to fund their 6 figure bonuses.
There would be a shortage if they staffed the hospitals appropriately.
I've only read about half the comments here, but holy crap, is it really that bad everywhere? Is there a regional aspect to this? I look at the job openings for CNAs around here in the twin cities (hoping to find a test date that works with my school schedule) and check the RN openings at the same time. I see tons of openings at area hospitals. I know a few nurses (a mix of RNs and LPNs) and haven't heard of any such surplus of nurses around here. I fully expect that I might have to commute to the other side of town for my first job, but hell if I'm moving anywhere.
Trouble is, most of those open positions require current hospital experience. At least the ones I just now quickly looked up. The surplus might not be as big as in CA, but there's enough lack of shortage that employers can afford to be selective.
While I respect the experience and knowledge older nurses teach us, older nurses should retire at some point. Do we want someone taking care of us who is forgetful and can't do physical work as much as younger nurses?
Who said anything about forgetful and physically incapable? Do you really believe that? Wow. Wow.
Who said anything about forgetful and physically incapable? Do you really believe that? Wow. Wow.
I know it sounds bad but I absolutely have worked with a few older nurses who were forgetful and could not do the physical work as well as younger nurses including one who made frequent medication errors. Same for a couple of really old physicians. These are the exceptions but it does happen.
I know it sounds bad but I absolutely have worked with a few older nurses who were forgetful and could not do the physical work as well as younger nurses including one who made frequent medication errors. Same for a couple of really old physicians. These are the exceptions but it does happen.
I have also worked with some young nurses who were forgetful and could not [or would not] do the physical work and more than one that made frequent med errors. These are the exceptions but it does happen.
chicagotoots
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