RN shortage

Published

Really, do you think there is a shortage of RNs where you live. Have all of the RNs recently graduated found jobs? Is it a ploy to bring in more immigrant nurses???

Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
Oh...and one last question to ask ourselves....does being short staffed actually mean there is a shortage or is it that facilities are purposefully running units short to save money and pretend they are hiring but not actually doing so. Food for thought. It wouldn't be the first time dummy job listings were posted.

It happened to me, although they went the whole way through doing the interview. Then, when I called to set up a day to shadow, they told me they couldn't justify filling the position.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

List of Nurse Recruitment Agencies for U.S. Based...

Nurse recruiting is big business!

This is a list of just a few of the companies.

The recruiters make big money bringing nurses here frm 139 countries.

The "shortage" is a fake mantra. My daughter's friends could not find work even with an MSN

She had to move to find something.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in orthopedic/trauma, Informatics, diabetes.
She had to move to find something.

I think that is the key. It's location. We have 3 level 1 trauma centers, 3 level 2s and all the satellites, plus all their clinics. We are saturated with facilities and no nurses. then what happens is they are rushed through orientation, get burned out, and leave so the cycle continues.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

No. I do not believe there is a shortage of nurses. Hospitals, on the whole, understaff by keeping low patient/nurse ratios, overwork and underpay nurses so they give up and quit and they give young nurses no support nor do they encourage older, more experienced nurses to do so.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med/Surg/.

Actually it is not a myth. I don't necessarily think it is always intentional either. These companies leave up their adds indefinitely even after they fill the position. I lived in Dallas for 10 yrs and worked agency for most of that. While trying on the occasion to get a FT job I never got responses. This made me curious. So when I would see an add that had need I would hunt up the place that needed and call. I can't tell you how many times I was told "position filled months ago" That right there is a very big problem for job hunting. If you are smart when you find something you want to do call them and see if still opened before you apply. Also don't ever just do a full apply for any job unless you know it is still available. Dallas has been so saturated for years it's amazing that anyone gets a job. If you are on a site that gives you stats about how many people applied to this job you need to pay attention. When 60-to over 100 people apply you will probably need to keep moving on. I went to an interview once in Dallas at a brand new facility for LVNs. When I sent my resume in it was 10 minutes and she had written me for an interview while i was still on the computer. Mine was the next day. When I got there she made the statement that she couldn't believe how many resumes she had gotten overnight. She said it it sad that so many nurses are out of work having a hard time finding a job. I could go on and on but many of you know it is not just the LVNs but RN BSN nurses also. This is all about geography but then how many of us really want to pack up and move?

Up Vote Up Vote ×

There is nothing like nursing shortage ,that's myth as some of you has mentioned .The reasoning is that, Nursing is the easiest to get into ,anyone can be a nurse there are plenty of foreign educated nurses who will settle for any pay to work in the US. In fact the nursing field is oversaturated.

If you can remember few years back they perpetuated this myth of nursing shortage so a bunch of nursing schools started crush programs now the market is oversaturated with nurses .Due to over abundance of nursing supply employers don't have any incentive to improve working conditions leave alone nursing wages.

So if you are coming to nursing thinking there is shortage ,you better be prepared to have your shifts cancelled and work part time or PRN.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Sailas, I agree!

I also think that many nursing schools (including my daughters) live the lie by telling people there are jobs

They charge $50,000 a year

The average kid gets out of there with 200k in loans

The nursing school keeps up the charade that there are jobs. They have to, as they need our bodies! TO PAY THE BILLS

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Psych, Peds, Education, Infection Control.

I know at my hospital, they ARE actively trying to hire, but it's hard to find people willing to work psych in an urban environment sometimes...and we're a freestanding psych facility. So there's a shortage at MY facility, but I assure you there is no shortage at any of the big-name hospitals in this area that everyone's flocking to.

Also, amusingly, I submitted my resume to HR twice before being hired here - two different positions in the same hospital. I got called on one by the manager of the department that hired me. The other, I assumed HR just went "oh, we hired her somewhere else" and did whatever they do in that case. This second resume somehow got caught in some level of computer hell instead, because every so often I get an automated email from HR asking me to submit my salary requirements and call to set up an interview, because they are VERY interested in having me. I'm always tempted to write back and tell them I've worked here for three years, but I'd love to discuss what I think I should be paid. ;)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in MDS RNAC, LTC, Psych, LTAC.

I agree in my area of the Midwest experienced nurses cant land a job in hospitals but new grads can but local hospital systems have a steady supply from local colleges so there is a shortage of experienced RNs but that is because hospitals here dont want to pay for experience .

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I live in a Midwestern state, and I see both nurse shortage and deliberate short staffing.

In my institution, even specialized areas (such as OR or ICU) hire new graduates. I have met a couple nurses who moved to this state to earn nursing experiences solely because they could not get an acute care job in their home state as a new graduate. Once they get enough experiences, they move back to their home. In addition, my unit always has at least one or two traveler nurses at any given time.

Meanwhile, I can see the hospital never allows to assign more than certain number of nurses on the floor for each shift. If you are extra on a shift, you will be either sent to another unit, put on call, or get reduced. In that way, the hospital can maintain high nurse to patient ratio and then save money (for a short period of time.)

In a long run? The institution looses money because traveler nurse costs much more than regular one. Other than that, it keeps hiring new nurses, yet they will not stay because of poor working conditions. Negative spirals.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

When this glut of NP graduates hits in a couple of years, you will be exactly right. If employers have a choice between a graduate of an online program vs a graduate of a traditional college program they are going to take the latter.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

That happened to me too.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion