So Many Students! Will Shortage Now End?

Nursing Students General Students

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I've been reading posts on here and I just can't help to notice how many nursing students there are out there, some on the verge of graduation, others just now starting their programs and others like me who are lurking on here and beginning their prerequisites. If all goes well and as planned, I should be finished with my accelerated BSN by the beginning of the summer in 2011. Cannot help to wonder if I will be graduating into a market that's overrun with nurses and have trouble getting work. Let alone the concern on here that new grads are having a hard time getting hired ...

One small reason I am leaving the legal profession, there are just too many lawyers out there! :down: In hindsight, I should have steadfastly followed my childhood dream of entering the medical profession, but better late than never!

as a nursing student myself, everyone who has posted on this thread should read the threads on nursing news from actual practicing, experienced, laid-off and recent rn graduates for months/year and read the real 411! hate to burst your bubble folks, but here goes:

although the bad news is everywhere, i still choose to be positive and hope for the best. there is no "shortage" per say, nursing schools are pumping out graduates every semester by the thousands. the problem is getting them hired and it just didn't start this year, unemployment has been creeping up for the past year or so. also, because of the economy, there are more rns getting back into the profession and they're preferred to get hired as opposed to recent grads. retirement theory? --> (rns retiring) goodluck with that theory! read the postings on nursing news, you'll get the 411 from 'actual nurses'.

read the comments from nurses and pay attention on what they really think:

fox news-nursing: recession proof career?

nursing education to receive influx of federal funds

another article about sudden change in nursing job market

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i agree w/ you nvplates05, the bad news is everywhere.i hope ppl goin to start in the fall understand what they're getting into, and if for the right reasons, b/c the money and recession-proof jobs are going poof!.i hope and wish for the best also.i'ver read all those news articles in the past couple of days. people are right on the money, shortage is over for now, and won't come back until the recession/depression lets up alot!!!!!!!!:heartbeat:redpinkhe:heartbeat

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Specializes in Psychiatry.
If you're going by all nurses - I think what you see here are vent threads by graduating/graduate nurses who aren't finding the jobs they want but they will probably tell you that most people in their class have jobs.

You're kidding, right???

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Ok, im kind of tired of people making sweeping statements and predictions on purely anecdotal data. Yes, hiring is slowing down for nurses. It is present in some areas and absent in others. But my metropolitan area isnt doing too bad. Does this mean that as a profession everyone is fine? No - and neither does you're situation.

But lets keep things in perspective people. People who are in finance right now are getting chopped by the THOUSANDS. An whole industry once known as Investment Banking no longer EXISTS. Law students with $100k of debt can't find a jobe making $35k. Yes, nurses are feeling some of the hurt, but not like those in finance, marketing, law, auto workers, manufacturing, retail, etc. I know people with MBAs doing telemarketing now.

Lets look at the long view here and stop panicking. As stated by others, some of the reasons to stop worrying so much -The age of current RN's is high & Many will plan on retiring or working less. If you really want some statistics, heres a good page I found (below). If you're really going to make a cogent argument that there is no shortage, please back them up with some hard statistics. Otherwise, proclaming that the sky is falling and that all of us nursing students are screwed (and I feel like we're implicitly being told not to go into the field so we dont compete with you guys) is just plain fear mongering and totally unnecessary.

Flame on.

http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Media/FactSheets/NursingShortage.htm

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Specializes in Cardiac.
Otherwise, proclaming that the sky is falling and that all of us nursing students are screwed (and I feel like we're implicitly being told not to go into the field so we dont compete with you guys) is just plain fear mongering and totally unnecessary.

Flame on.

Lol. No flames, just laughter.

Really? How on earth can a new grad compete with an experienced nurse? They are terribly expensive to train, most leave the bedside during their first year, and they are not even remotely as safe for pts as experienced nurses.

If you really think that we are worried then you're crazy. Trust me, we're not worried about you coming after us.

In my town, I know of at least 25% of our hosptials are NOT hiring new grads at all. If you want to blow that off as anecdotal data then so be it. I would be terrified to be a nursing student in many parts of this country right now.

We are also having tons of highly experienced nurses returning to the bedside, and many who want to retire but remain working.

Again, call it anecdotal.

I call it -reality.

We are not trying to 'scare' you. We are telling people to: Not spend 46K on ADNs, not quit your high paying job right now to enter school, to try to get the best grades possible, get letters of recommendation, get CNA/tech experience and to look for work early.

Last I checked, that was US helping YOU.

Or, you can call it us scaring you out of trying to take our jobs.

Again, lol.

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Specializes in Ambulatory care, OR.

There will always be a need for nurses.

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Lol. No flames, just laughter.

Really? How on earth can a new grad compete with an experienced nurse? They are terribly expensive to train, most leave the bedside during their first year, and they are not even remotely as safe for pts as experienced nurses.

If you really think that we are worried then you're crazy. Trust me, we're not worried about you coming after us.

In my town, I know of at least 25% of our hosptials are NOT hiring new grads at all. If you want to blow that off as anecdotal data then so be it. I would be terrified to be a nursing student in many parts of this country right now.

We are also having tons of highly experienced nurses returning to the bedside, and many who want to retire but remain working.

Again, call it anecdotal.

I call it -reality.

We are not trying to 'scare' you. We are telling people to: Not spend 46K on ADNs, not quit your high paying job right now to enter school, to try to get the best grades possible, get letters of recommendation, get CNA/tech experience and to look for work early.

Last I checked, that was US helping YOU.

Or, you can call it us scaring you out of trying to take our jobs.

Again, lol.

Umm... Yea. Twenty five percent of "your area hospitals" are not hiring new graduate. Therefore, it must mean conditions are the same for the whole of the nursing profession :rolleyes:. Nevermind that there are 3-4 million nurses in the country. Obviously your personal "reality" as you like to call it, can be extrapolated to every single region of the country.

Dont take this personally, but for me to take your assertations seriously, you're simply going to have to give me some more quality quantitative data - that is something other than the "reality" in your corner of the universe.

Be well.

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Specializes in Cardiac.

Whatever you have to tell yourself.

You'll find out soon enough.

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Nursing shortage still exists in my area---but none of our schools have waitlists in our area either. I'm not too worried about perspective jobs beause I have a REALLY good job now, so I will make it whether I land a job right away or I have to wait some time. I'm paying for my nursing education out of pocket (another fine point of my REALLY good job). I do owe 20 grand for my B.A., but that is deferred for the time being... and I'll keep taking classes until I get a nursing job after graduation :) Not landing a job right away will afford me the opportunity to complete my RN-BSN faster and get into my MSN faster. So, either way will be alright by me, but I'm confident I will find a job right away.

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Specializes in being a Credible Source.
Ok, im kind of tired of people making sweeping statements...

But lets keep things in perspective people. People who are in finance right now are getting chopped by the THOUSANDS. An whole industry once known as Investment Banking no longer EXISTS. Law students with $100k of debt can't find a jobe making $35k. Yes, nurses are feeling some of the hurt, but not like those in finance, marketing, law, auto workers, manufacturing, retail, etc. I know people with MBAs doing telemarketing now.

Funny to hear somebody gripe about sweeping statements only to follow it up with a sweeping statement.

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Funny to hear somebody gripe about sweeping statements only to follow it up with a sweeping statement.

http://bx.businessweek.com/wall-street-layoffs/

"Major law firms are turning out to be just as susceptible to general economic conditions as every other industry. Historically, layoffs by top-tier firms were kept quiet and were done on a one-off basis. We're trying to shed a little light on the situation. As of March 31, 2009, there have been over 9,946 people laid off by major law firms (4,046 lawyers / 5,905 staff) since January 1, 2008. For the first quarter of 2009, 7,999 (3,149 lawyers, 4,850 staff), 3,677 in March alone (1,334 attorneys, 2,343 staff)."

http://lawshucks.com/layoff-tracker/#ytd-chart

"End of the Wall Street investment bank"

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article4800550.ece

"Yahoo column: Are MBAs becoming obsolete?"

http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2007/10/04/yahoo-column-are-mbas-becoming-obsolete/

Yes. Clearly my statements about those fields were sweeping. Almost as much as saying that there is no nursing shortage because you're region has slowed down on their new graduate hiring.:icon_roll I mean c'mon guys - if you really think there is absolutely no nursing shortage in this country, at an aggregate level, I'm ALL EARS.

Give me something quantitative. Show me the DATA.

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I am in an ADN program, and can't believe how many students are going into nursing just because of the economy. It's so clear who the students are-there are two in my clinical who I help all the time because they can't stand doing some of the nursing tasks. Not ironically, these two aren't doing well in classes. They think that when they actually become nurses, they won't have to do the "dirty" work. One thinks she'll go right into ER nursing, and plans to skip the "lowly" med-surg experience. There is a good number of these types of students. Don't count this group as potential "competitors" for jobs/opportunities.

Experience is so important in nursing. Try to develop a resume by working your way up, just like you would in the law profession. A lot of nursing students are misled to think that they can earn a piece of paper, and employers seek will seek them out. Maybe at one time, but even through the history of nursing, you've got to be smart about business/aware of big picture environment and adapt if to be really successful. In this way, you sound very wise to be considering the facts of the economy/current health care system, etc. I get so tired of the students who feel entitled to lots of money, endless job opps, no need for resume development just because they are in nursing.

Nobody can really predict the future re the shortage, etc. A lot of people have really deep emotions and opinions about this topic, but a prediction is only that. I mean, who could have predicted the current conditions of the economy??? One thing will remain, though, is that nursing is a profession that needs dedicated, genuine, and intelligent individuals. If you are this person, and want to be a nurse, you might still have some trouble with downturns, but you'll be okay. It's the people who are PURELY in it for the money who are going to be all broken up when they have to move for a nursing job or when they might have to take a "less than" nursing job than they thought they'd have to take for a while.

One thing I do think is that the number of ADN nurses might be too many. This is the fast-track, post-lost their jobs-and looking for a new career tendency...most nurses are ADN-trained. I'm in an ADN program, but earned my LPN last year, and immediately went into a regular ADN program. I plan to do the same for the BSN, and have a goal of getting my MSN. DO advance your education, as I think this will help if a surplus of RNs does occur. For me, I think the experience along the way is worth it, plus I don't want to rack up a lot of debt along the way, so working as a nurse is awesome for me as I continue on with school.

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