Should I Start Nursing School Now??

Sarah010101 · Jun 21, 2010

while no person can predict the future of the economy.. nursing is a great field to get into. I am about half way done my BSN, and i am confident that over the next 2 years people will be retiring and that more jobs will be availiable. It IS different up here in Canada, more LPNs are getting laid off, RNs are being forced to specialize, but if you are willing to travel as well... the nursing opportunities are endless.

Coffee Nurse, BSN, RN · Jun 21, 2010

Keep in mind that even if the economy improves in the next two years, you may end up having to leave Mass. in order to find a job, especially if you're in the greater Boston area. Due to the number of nursing schools and the ability of most hospitals there to attract strong applicants from all over, the job market is very, very tight.

dhicks2213 · Jun 21, 2010

Do you think its worth it to go into?? or should i try a new proffession. I love the healthcare field...what are some other positions in the healthcare field??

morphed · Jun 21, 2010

If you are serious about building yourself a long career in nursing, then yes, go for it. By the time you finish your program, we will most likely be in a whole new economy. By 2012 the average age of RNs will be 44.5 and the majority of will be in their 50s. That means A LOT of RNs will be retiring SOON! Besides, nursing is one of the few jobs in which you can get schooling for as little as 2 years and start making pretty good money. From there, you can continue your education as you work if you want to. Not many other careers have so many steps that you can take one by one and eventually move up the ladder to earning a lot of money. Let us now what you end up doing :)

classicdame, MSN, EdD · Jun 21, 2010

other areas of consideration: Licensed/registered Dietician; Physical or Occupational or Speech therapy; Respiratory therapy; Medical technology (lab)

happy2learn · Jun 21, 2010

There are many areas in healthcare... Ones I had looked into was Radiation Therapist and Diagnostic Medical Sonography. I also considered Dental Hygiene.

I think the great thing about nursing though is that there are so many areas to explore.

Also, consider the fact that many baby boomers will be hitting retirement beginning 2014, so that should open up some jobs, hopefully, in geriatrics at least.

You just have to think about what you're good at and how that will fit into different areas of healthcare.

Definitely don't let the economic situation stray your decision. People in EVERY field are being laid off.

SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN · Jun 21, 2010

if you are serious about building yourself a long career in nursing, then yes, go for it. by the time you finish your program, we will most likely be in a whole new economy. by 2012 the average age of rns will be 44.5 and the majority of will be in their 50s. that means a lot of rns will be retiring soon! :)

not true!!! baby boomers would like to retire and many are at age to retire but not many have the money. in fact, most retiring nurses will be putting off retirement until after 65... possibly age 70. thus the average age of nurses means nothing right now. i work with nurses who have 20-30 years experience. none are retiring any time soon and do not plan to retire when the economy gets better because they have no money.

op: there is an article that the number of nurses is exceeding the demand and will do so for a very long time now. one problem is the number of new grads graduating that have oversaturated the market. here is the link: https://allnurses.com/nursing-news/data-indicate-schools-486040.html

i think if you want to be a nurse then become a nurse. otherwise, if you want to be a nurse because you think you will have a steady income or job security (nothing wrong with these reasons), nursing will not fulfill those needs for some time. too many nursing schools and graduates vs. not enough positions.

morphed · Jun 22, 2010

not true!!! baby boomers would like to retire and many are at age to retire but not many have the money. in fact, most retiring nurses will be putting off retirement until after 65... possibly age 70. thus the average age of nurses means nothing right now. i work with nurses who have 20-30 years experience. none are retiring any time soon and do not plan to retire when the economy gets better because they have no money.
op: there is an article that the number of nurses is exceeding the demand and will do so for a very long time now. one problem is the number of new grads graduating that have oversaturated the market. here is the link: https://allnurses.com/nursing-news/data-indicate-schools-486040.html
i think if you want to be a nurse then become a nurse. otherwise, if you want to be a nurse because you think you will have a steady income or job security (nothing wrong with these reasons), nursing will not fulfill those needs for some time. too many nursing schools and graduates vs. not enough positions.

it was from the work of multiple phds that were working on studying the trends of the nursing workforce...they might know something. your link doesn't look like a peer-reviewed journal, but a local news website? and take into consideration that there a lot of unmentioned things in that set of data--it's not that the shortage ended, most hospitals are just having fewer nurses do more things and essentially hiring fewer nurses. that will change with the economy. also, many new grads are being hired because at $20/hr they cost much less than someone with 20 years of experience and $35/hr.

additionally, that data was done in 2009, one of our worst years economically. you cannot take your worst year and predict what's going to happen based on that. and i'm thinking long term here...over the next 20 years a significant majority of those baby boomers will be slowly but surely moving out of the job force. surely you don't think there's going to be a ton of 75 year old floor nurses...?

and there are a lot of rns out there that aren't actually working as nurses. that compilation of data doesn't take that into consideration either. also, those numbers just include people that finished nursing school--they haven't taken nclex yet. how many people here finished another program and then went back to school for something else? it's possible that a number of these people will not actually go into nursing. oh, and the article also says that it didn't take into consideration whether people were already rns and going back for higher education or if these people were entering a nursing program for the first time. did you read the whole article or did you just read the few sentences someone posted on the allnurses link you gave?

i stand by my original position that if you want to go into nursing--do it, don't think about the market and this and that. markets change. it's a cycle, there will be ups and downs.

morphed · Jun 22, 2010

Definitely don't let the economic situation stray your decision. People in EVERY field are being laid off.

Thanks for reminding us of that--we seemed to be forgetting it. Everybody is saying the economy is bad and it's affecting nursing, but it's actually affecting everything. Are we supposed to not go into any field and just stay home? lol.

metricalpound · Jun 22, 2010

In all reality, Nursing isn't being hit as hard as other sectors. People are still finding jobs as a nurses as new grads - they just have to put a little bit more effort than they had to do a couple of years ago.

You want to see a hard hit sector - Education. For every position that opens up in NYC - there are thousand of applicants around the country applying for it. Almost all jobs are dried up - even Math or Special Education. My Aunt is a teacher in a small elementary school in upstate NY and she was telling me how there was a position of a third grade teacher that opened - there were over 400 applicants from around the country applying for that job. That's less than a .25% of getting that job if you were in the applicant pool. That's insane.

Nursing is nowhere near that bad. Is there still a nursing shortage? I have no idea. What I do know is that some nurses are still getting hired right out of school - they just have to put a greater effort in attaining a job.

gerry79 · Jun 22, 2010

If you want to become a nurse than by all means go to school. But understand that the need for nurses is not as severe as portrayed by the media and nursing educators/schools. Try to obtain your degree economically as I see many new grads from designer schools with crushing student loan repayments, and no better job prospects than those from ABC community college.

There is the possibility the economy will improve and jobs will open up, but with the proliferation of nursing programs started every minute, there is the distinct possibility that the supply of nurses will be greater than the demand for the foreseeable future.

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