So is there really a nursing shortage?

[VegGal]

I've been a nurse (LPN) for several years, and a fairly new RN now in California. While in school, both ASN and now my BSN I kept hearing about the huge nursing shortage we're facing, and how much worse it's going to get, and I still hear it. Then I read posts from experienced nurses on here who state that there's no nursing shortage in most US cities.

So which one is true? I read about how the Baby Boomers will need many more nurses, and I also read how there aren't enough Gen X and Millennials to take over the Baby Boomer Nurses' jobs once they retire. I also read statistics by the ACA 2010 that state that we're facing a major nursing shortage and how many more nurses are needed, and in fact many agencies and companies have been bringing in foreign nurses to fill these so-called vacancies in nursing.

So what's the real truth? In my state of California I see lots of nursing jobs posted all the time, and I wonder if it's because of nurses retiring, quitting, new positions being created, or if it's truly a shortage of nurses at all times. What do you think? Is there a shortage? Do you see a shortage in your city / state?

[AspiringNurseMW]

So what I am saying is that the shortages are

a) regional-- think places where people don't want to live and

b) for experienced nurses in most places

[wswigert]

I am a new RN and I was hired right away at our community hospital. Shortly after I was hired we had a HUGE exodus of experienced, good nurses. I would say that maybe half of the nurses hired after this mass exodus are still there (last November I was hired). We seem to be hiring non-stop, and most are new grads with no experience (or LPN-ADN nurses like myself with LTC/homecare experience). It is very overwhelming to be put on a med/surg floor with 4-6 patients and almost all the staff has 2 yrs or less experience(the almost blind leading the blind). I agree that there is a shortage of experienced nurses. Nursing is a dynamic field, it is ever-changing so there may be a shortage today and an overage tomorrow. I choose to be thankful for the job I have, and smart enough to not leave one job before having another lined up.

To the ones who state that younger nurses aren't willing to stay for the long-haul, that may be true. I'm not a youngster, but nursing is my second career and I have never seen a more bitter bunch of people than hospital administration. They seem to expect employees to give up their lives in order to work there. They are unforgiving and inflexible. When I became a nurse I had no idea that it was supposed to BE my life. NO. It's my JOB. My life is what happens outside of work and if it makes me a "bad nurse" because I refuse to sacrifice my home life for over-time then so be it. Money is not what drove me into nursing. I became a nurse to "do good and help people" not to make a huge sum of money. Also, I refuse to be taken advantage of by my employer and I refuse to sacrifice patient safety because "management" thinks it's ok for 2 nurses to care for 12 patients without a tech or a unit clerk. Unsafe, unfair working conditions may, I dare say, be one of the driving factors of this "nursing shortage" because we refuse to work in unsafe conditions.

[Quickbeam, BSN, RN]

Your experience is much like mine. I had a career before nursing with a 4 year degree. Due to marriage and portability I went back to school and got my BSN at 30. I am now over 60. My biggest memory was the shock going from a career where I got professional respect to one where I was seen as a cog. Time clocks, mandatory overtime, 16 hour shifts, expected to work sick, expected to be available 24/7....I had not ever expected that. And I loved shift work and patient care. I just had no idea how little regard I would receive as an RN. I am finishing out my working years in case management where at least my colleagues respect my opinion. It isn't perfect but I no longer have to go to work expecting to be there for 16 hours.

[mrl3fnp]

NO! It's a lie.......

[Libby1987]

The boomers aging out isn't going to make it an employee market.

Boomers aging out with a progressively younger chronically ill population will break us. It won't matter how many new nurses are on the ground, with less working and contributing to Medicare and more high utilizers coming, ratios will worsen, the working conditions will get tougher. I sure wouldn't be looking forward to a shortage as a reason to go to nursing school.

[HikingNurse8789]

At one time my area had a shortage of jobs but now we are trending the other way. But the places really hurting for staff are LTC and home health. No one wants to bust their booties in LTC anymore for $20/hour so they are getting desperate and offering incentives. Hospitals are definitely hiring, not desperate yet, but hiring more new grads than than they have in recent years that's for sure.

[cherryelle07]

I think in certain areas there are. Think rural, border towns, lower income areas, LTC, etc. The less then glamorous facilities and areas. We will see where the job market is where I live when I graduate. I worry slightly, because I'm not in a position to relocate for work as I have minor children and my bf's entire family lives here. If I were single and childless, I would re-locate in a second.

[DoGoodThenGo]

There is - in SOME PLACES and in SOME SPECIALTIES - a shortage of EXPERIENCED nurses.

That is the only shortage I can detect.

Exactly!

When you hear places say there is a nursing "shortage" it often translates into an experienced nurse well seasoned in a particular specialty.

Nursing employment market has become pretty much the same as the overall US labor sector; employers are loathe to train anyone *new*, so there is a vast market of poaching experienced employees as people are lured from one place to another.

[dlshilobod]

I am not sure I agree with the statement there is no nursing shortage if a nurse can't get hired for anything after two years after leaving the last position. Here is my experience: I left nursing after 28 yrs of practicing as a RN, most of it as a perioperative nurse that included tenures as perioperative nurse educator and experience with installs of EMR's in the OR. I spent the last six years practicing real estate and wanted to return back to perioperative nursing part time or casual during that time but found employers would not even consider interviewing me because I had been out of nursing for over a year or two...even employers nationwide. So, I am not sure about the nursing shortage statement. A nurse with almost 30 yrs experience should be employable especially in the OR. It is my opinion that some of those employers may not have wanted to consider me as an applicant because I may demand a higher salary or perhaps they thought I "forgot" my nursing skills. So if there is really a nursing shortage then I should have been hired somewhere. I was even willing to relocate.

[nordicRN]

I think the problem they should address is nursing retention! There seems to be plenty of nurses out there, but in my city the hospitals treat the nurses so poorly they can't keep them.

[SmilingBluEyes]

Eh why give a hoot about retention? New grads and experienced nurses are a dime a dozen; CEOs and other suits have actually been heard saying this. If they leave, so what, we have a bunch lined up to replace them.

I think the problem they should address is nursing retention! There seems to be plenty of nurses out there, but in my city the hospitals treat the nurses so poorly they can't keep them.

[homecaresurvivor]

Those very same things existed 32 years ago when I first became an RN, working in a major teaching hospital. I think the difference might be that we had a much lower rate of turnover. Job hopping certainly wasn't as common then, and as some other posters have mentioned, I think a lot of us just put up with more than younger, newer nurses are willing to do.