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.
Though I look at my class of 70, knowing there are many other schools with classes of similar size, and wonder how the instructors can promise we will all find jobs at graduation?
I am quite sure your class of 70 will not all need to find jobs. If your program is similar to most others roughly half of you won't make it to graduation.
"There isn't a nursing shortage right now -- we all know that. There IS a shortage of experienced nurses to precept all the new grads that the nursing schools are cranking out -- most of whom only intend to stay in their new job as long as it takes to get into anesthesia school or to graduate from an NP program. There IS a shortage of nurses who want to actually take care of patients, stay at the bedside and take satisfaction from what can be (and has been for me) a very challenging, interesting and satisfying career. And there IS a shortage of new graduates who have some idea of what a nursing career (or even a first nursing job) will entail. Nights, weekends and holidays are all part of the package. As are poop, pee and 12 hour shifts. Anyone who graduates from whatever program expecting to be a nurse leader from the start clearly hasn't done their homework. Yet we find these new grads every single semester."
This may be true in urban areas. There is an actual nursing shortage and the demand on health care will only increase as baby boomers age, especially with about 8,000 turning 65 per day for the next 15 years or so. Many U.S. hospitals recruit nurses from overseas to fill shortages in many geographical areas that have shortages.
That I can believe. I don't even live in a large population area, maybe a bit over 90,000 including outlying areas. There are 3 ADN programs and 1 BSN program pumping out new grads every year. That doesn't include of course the students that are attending non-traditional [on line] bridge programs for BSN and beyond.
But...Even with the abundance of nursing programs in my area we could still use a few nurses, as could every LTC around here. Don't even get me started on CNA needs, we just plain don't have enough. It's a rare day indeed when not a single staff gets mandated to cover a hole in the schedule.
"There isn't a nursing shortage right now -- we all know that. There IS a shortage of experienced nurses to precept all the new grads that the nursing schools are cranking out -- most of whom only intend to stay in their new job as long as it takes to get into anesthesia school or to graduate from an NP program. There IS a shortage of nurses who want to actually take care of patients, stay at the bedside and take satisfaction from what can be (and has been for me) a very challenging, interesting and satisfying career. And there IS a shortage of new graduates who have some idea of what a nursing career (or even a first nursing job) will entail. Nights, weekends and holidays are all part of the package. As are poop, pee and 12 hour shifts. Anyone who graduates from whatever program expecting to be a nurse leader from the start clearly hasn't done their homework. Yet we find these new grads every single semester."
This!
Yes and yes. I am 37 y.o, graduated in 2010, wanted to be a nurse for much longer but circumstances prevented it happening sooner
Have always wanted to be in OB, and here is what I had to do to get here:
Worked some pretty crappy places- understaffed TCU, etc. IN April of 2013 family and I moved to southern MD- LONG story how and why this happened...FINALLY got my first hospital job in tele there- back home in the twin cities I had been consistently applying to every hospital system since graduation with no results-
In August of 2014, finally got hired back here in MN on OB- straight NOC but oh well
Holidays don't bother me ( heck, time and a half) NOC is fine, 12 hrs don't bother me ( currently on FTE 8s and I hate it! Want my 12s back)
All I have wanted from day one is a stable, well staffed, decently paid RN job where I felt the employer cares- where I am well supported and I enjoy the work
Anyone who expects more as a new RN needs a serious reality check
I'm a prenursing student now and I'm oh so glad I found this website. I'm actually going to nursing school with the intention of being a midwife, eventually. I'm dually glad that I found this website AND I moved to North East Pennsylvania where nursing jobs are still available for new grads, even in hospitals. If I had stayed in NYC, I'm not sure what I would have done.
However I do sincerely wish my CC ADN program was more selective, there is an illusion that the program is really hard to get into, but I think it's because almost anyone can apply because the requirements are so lax. 2.5 GPA, only need to pass the entrance exam (no higher score required to apply), the only prerequisite truly required is Math 101, technically everything else, including sciences, can be taking concurrently.
I'd like to think that competetive grades are keeping the 2.5'rs out of the program.
Specializes in Med nurse in med-surg., float, HH, and PDN.
Not all of us 65 year old BB's plan on stopping work and retiring......because we CAN'T AFFORD TO. I have co-workers in their 70's who also are going to keep working as long as possible.
I hope to Pete I croak before I require nursing care and especially before the Big Bad LTC looms into view.
Nothing against newbies; in fact, I'll let the CRNA's practice on me and make their first big mistake. I'll even have Thank You cards ready to mail to them at the same time my obit appears in the paper. Which is not to say I don't trust them to be competent or do a good job, merely that I hope for an easy out from life and going while under anesthesia seems a bit more preferable than lingering; and I would just like to contribute to the learning curve everyone goes through to one extent or another. Generous of me, I know.
I am a nurse and I enjoy what I do. By earning my LPN, and then RN license, I gained secure employment and a comfortable salary. I wouldn't discourage anyone from pursuing a career in nursing, because it has allowed me to have the life that I wanted. Because I became a nurse, I own a home in a safe, middle-class neighborhood. I can put food on the table and provide for my children. They have everything they need, including excellent health insurance coverage through my employer. I have been with my employer for 10 years, and while other departments (activity therapy, accounting, purchasing) have seen cuts in staffing, nursing has actually been given more positions to handle our patient load. What concerns me more than a saturation of nursing programs are all of the "career colleges" touting a 9 month course in massage therapy or medical assisting as a path to a stable career!
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
I'd like to think that competetive grades are keeping the 2.5'rs out of the program.
My close friend had a 2.6 grade point average when applying to nursing schools several years ago. Although she's not the most academically gifted person by a long shot, she is now a director of nurses at a local healthcare facility.
Your post doesn't sound as if you love nursing, or that your love for nursing shines. It says you're an unhappy employee who is trying to discourage others from joining the profession. It sounds angry and bitter. Your "hard truth" isn't my truth.
It's unfortunate that inferior nursing schools are accepting students who cannot get into a good school, and that they're cranking out graduates who cannot pass the basic licensing exam after umpteen tries. Those nursing schools need to close. The schools that are so difficult to get into -- those are the schools whose standards ought to be lauded. Perhaps those standards need to be, well, standard across the country. If anyone who cannot get into the brick and mortar University of "My State" school cannot then get into an wildly expensive for profit school (and rack up tens of thousands of dollars worth of debt) perhaps we wouldn't have such a glut of nurses on the market. But that's not the entire problem.
I have no problem with the associate's degree as an entry level to nursing. Some of the best nurses I work with have associate's degrees and (dare I say it?) diplomas. It makes a lot more sense to me than requiring a Master's degree as entry level. I've precepted ADN nurses and MSN nurses -- the difference is in the size of debt accumulated.
While it's true that our wages were frozen and our benefits declined for several years (while the economy in general tanked), my husband and I both had jobs. And I got a very nice raise last year. I don't know what the CEO of our hospital got, but I'm not unhappy with my paycheck at all.
There isn't a nursing shortage right now -- we all know that. There IS a shortage of experienced nurses to precept all the new grads that the nursing schools are cranking out -- most of whom only intend to stay in their new job as long as it takes to get into anesthesia school or to graduate from an NP program. There IS a shortage of nurses who want to actually take care of patients, stay at the bedside and take satisfaction from what can be (and has been for me) a very challenging, interesting and satisfying career. And there IS a shortage of new graduates who have some idea of what a nursing career (or even a first nursing job) will entail. Nights, weekends and holidays are all part of the package. As are poop, pee and 12 hour shifts. Anyone who graduates from whatever program expecting to be a nurse leader from the start clearly hasn't done their homework. Yet we find these new grads every single semester.
Experienced, competent RNs are not treated like children, morons or menials. CEOs have managed to figure out that hospitals exist to provide nursing care. Surgery is a moneymaker, to be sure, but why have beds in which patients can recover without nurses to care for them? Becoming an APRN isn't the only safety net -- schools are cranking out too many NPs as well. Our area is fully saturated with CRNAs as well. Bedside nursing is still needed, and if you go into it with a positive attitude it can be a great career. Unfortunately, all too few new grads want to actually be nurses.
My friends who went to college for business degrees, engineering or teaching all expected to graduate and move to wherever they could land that first job. Yes, some had a preference for the home town and some wanted to live in Boston or New York or LA . . . but they all expected that when they graduated, they'd have to move somewhere for their job. And they were willing to do that. Nurses, unfortunately, don't seem to be as willing to move to get that first job and the much-needed experience. Yes, it sucks that the most jobs are in rural North Dakota and you want to live in Florida. Yes it sucks that new grads don't make enough money to immediately buy that three bedroom house in the suburbs AND a brand new luxury car. New teachers and accountants are pretty much in the same boat, and most of them had to have roommates the first few years. Now people expect to live with Mom and Dad (and Mom and Dad paying the bills) until they can afford that three bedroom house in the suburbs. So if the new job is in Kansas and Mom and Dad live in Milwaukee, that's a problem. But the problem is in expectations, not in nursing.
Good deeds? Caring for the sick and dying is our JOB, not a good deed. If you need recognition for doing your JOB, then you're not self-motivated. Think about the last time you recognized your accountant for getting you that tax refund or the mechanic who saved your life when he repaired your brakes.
This is long enough. I'm going to see what other folks had to say about your negative post.
I didn't read as much "negativity" into OP's post as you. I took it as more frustration and venting.
Who are you to say they are not good nurses? I've worked with many for profit college nursing graduates who actually work harder because they get bullied in the work place because of where they got their education.
I had some clinical students who can't perform basic math, such as if you need 650 mg of Tylenol and have a bottle of 325 mg tablets, how many tablets should you take out?
that's why a lot of people who shouldn't be in nursing are in nursing and for profit schools are in business.
I'm guessing that one would figure that some are not good nurses based on the issues of not knowing how to do basic arithmetic (as in the Tylenol anecdote) and the issue of failing the NCLEX four, five, six times (as stated here on AN.)
I personally don't know anyone who's graduated from a for-profit "diploma mill" type school, so I can't make a blanket statement about their grads. But the NCLEX is a measure of a GN's ability to perform safely at the entry level. I have serious, serious doubts about one's ability to perform safely at the entry level (let alone their claims to be a "GREAT nurse!!!!!!!!") if they need try-number-lucky-7 to pass the NCLEX.
Not all of us 65 year old BB's plan on stopping work and retiring......because we CAN'T AFFORD TO. I have co-workers in their 70's who also are going to keep working as long as possible.
I hope to Pete I croak before I require nursing care and especially before the Big Bad LTC looms into view.
Nothing against newbies; in fact, I'll let the CRNA's practice on me and make their first big mistake. I'll even have Thank You cards ready to mail to them at the same time my obit appears in the paper. Which is not to say I don't trust them to be competent or do a good job, merely that I hope for an easy out from life and going while under anesthesia seems a bit more preferable than lingering; and I would just like to contribute to the learning curve everyone goes through to one extent or another. Generous of me, I know.
Geez,No Stars! Are you trying to tell us something? You're not old! You are making me sad! TGIF!
kbrn2002, ADN, RN
3,967 Posts
I am quite sure your class of 70 will not all need to find jobs. If your program is similar to most others roughly half of you won't make it to graduation.