Rn retention and my ignorance

[youknowhowwedoit77]

For those of you who have read and responded to my other posts I want to say "Thank you."

I have been on a journey trying to find a "Happy Nurse" not the ones who are happy except for...

I have been hearing the drums of dissatisfaction as an RN for a long time now but I never correlated it with the Rn shortage. I always thought the reason for the shortage was the increase in the aging population leading to higher demand for Rn's. Today while I am trying to make my decision I came across multiple government research studies indicating that burn out and job dissatisfaction is shrinking the pool of registered nurses. Here is one of them, notice the date and how little has been done since then to change the situation.

http://http://www.phc4.org/reports/fyi/fyi16.htm

I always thought myself to be pretty intelligent but I had not put together the nursing shortage picture. It seems that the career itself, and more importantly the employers of RNs, is unable to retain qualified candidates to fill the needs.

So the last strand I am holding on to is that it truly is different for males in the profession. In my interviews with male rns each has been pretty happy with their situation the females on the other hand are mostly miserable (dont get upset with me each and every one of them has been unhappy with their chosen profession).

My question then is this. Is the difference between the quality of life for the male Rns vs. female Rns so vast as to make it a good career choice for one sex more than the other?

[youknowhowwedoit77]

Sorry that link didn't work here it is

http://www.phc4.org/reports/fyi/fyi16.htm

Did I say something wrong so many people looking and no one with any thoughts?

[SteveNNP, MSN, NP]

There are many issues causing a nursing shortage, many of which are mentioned in the study. However, for most nurses, the benefits and personal satisfactions outweigh a lot of the negatives. While there may be some different reasons for working as a nurse between men and women, I would say the difference is minimal.

A (previously) booming economy, family issues, educational instructor shortages all contribute to nurses leaving the field, or simply staying at home. I predict that the shortage will ease as finances tighten and many inactive nurses return to the workforce.

Dissatisfaction exists in every profession. If nursing is what you want to do, don't let anecdotes and a few studies sway your decision. Submariners have been studied, have stressful jobs, long assignments, but there are still a LOT of people who love doing it....

[Adjuvant]

Tough question, but from my experience I'm inclined to see it as an issue of expectation. Because males are a minority in the field, and there is some level of stereotyping towards male nurses, those that do persevere and enter the field have examined it from every angle, weighed the pros and cons and CHOSE nursing anyway.

[Pachinko]

To answer simply, no, there is no gender-based differences so vastly favorable for men that they will prevent burnout. As mentioned above, there are many reasons for burnout. The most serious ones have to do with being massively overworked and given responsibility for serious tasks that you have no hope of completing. This isn't changed by gender in most cases.

Before you despair too much, remember that there are always other employment options for nursing. If you find yourself in an unhealthy environment, stick with it for six months, quit, and find a better place.

[Summitk2]

I don't think men tolerate poor working environments as well as women. Although I only have anecdotal evidence, I believe the majority of men in nursing are within the ER, ICU, advanced practice, and management. I think these are the most challenging and rewarding areas to work in nursing and men gravitate towards them.

I think I would say "the majority of unhappy nurses are female," rather than, "the majority of female nurses are unhappy."

To paraphrase Laura Gasparis in her CCRN review, "if you don't see a male nurse anywhere around you, run for the door! You're working in the wrong area!"

[groovy jeff, RN]

Before NS I was an HR guy and specialized in workforce development, so I know a little bit about the topic. In the article that you linked it stated that average age of nurses is 45, which is a little better than it was 4-5 years ago. I believe that supply is slowly catching up with demand (in the near term) even though there is a tremendous lack of nursing education infrastructure and an instructor shortage. Personally I don't understand why supply/demand hasn't commanded bigger salaries for instructors. There will be a major workforce shortage in every field in about 15 years, so hold onto your hat when that hits hard.

This discussion has me pondering a couple of questions. How much dissatisfaction in nursing is due to horizontal violence and bullying? In several major workforce studies in the last 10 years it has been proven that 67% of people that leave a position leave because of their immediate supervisor. Since nursing seems to be one of those places that horizontal violence by supervisors and peers is an issue, is it a big factor? Can some of you folks with lots of experience wade in here??

The other thing that puzzles me is why HR departments in hospitals aren't more involved; being out on the floor and on the front line so-to-speak. In 2003 the average cost-of-hire for RNs was $10,000!!! Your organization is bleeding $$ if they are not retaining them.

[wayunderpaid]

I have to agree with Groovy Jeff. The big problem with dissatisfaction seems to be immediate superiors, like nurse leaders, unit managers, etc. These people should be trained in HR, employee retention, job satisfaction, conflict management, schedule management, etc.

Instead, in the hospital where I work, nurse managers often come in to work because the unit is short, and management is mostly relegated to treating the urgent, not the important.

The cost of retaining a nurse is much smaller than the cost of training a new one. But hospital policymakers and administrators lack that simple understanding. The hospital where I work is constantly hiring new nurses, because nurses leave for greener pastures, even within the organization (i.e. better pay).

I think that bedside nurses should be offered a quarterly bonus for staying at the bedside, and given special perks, like heavily discounted meals, etc.

I have a friend who graduated with me. Within A YEAR she had applied and obtained a better paying job in the same hospital in research. She is doing patient interviews for a study (not even high level research), while I struggle with a pt's assignment because we are ever so short. I feel happy for her, but I think it is not right. Nurses at the bedside should be the highest paid in the field, and given the most perks.

[ivanh3]

i think if you are going to try to compare the attitudes or job satisfaction of male nurses to those of female nurses you would first have to control a variable or two. as another poster has stated, it seems that males nurses tend to work in certain areas. i would guess that those areas are the ones with higher acuity patients. i think these types of patients draw a certain kind of personality. so my question might be a little more specific. for example i might wonder if male er (or any high acuity area) nurses are more/less satisfied than female er nurses. i think comparing the job satisfaction with no qualifying parameters is just too hard. nursing is too big and diversified to do that.