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?
In some places, hospitals will hire only experienced nurses, so it may seem like there's a shortage. Having said that, there is definitely going to be a shortage of nurses, particularly nurse practitioners, as more people enter the health care system due to the ACA. Right now, I think community health, geriatric, and psych nurses are in demand. Nursing faculty are greatly needed, but the must have graduate degrees.
In Michigan, it seems the only nursing shortage is in long-term care. The only classmates of mine that got jobs with a hospital were the ones that already worked at their respective hospitals as patient techs or aides. The nursing shortage in long-term care in my area is profound, but understandable - the pay is low and the responsibility is overwhelming. At one facility I worked at I had 52 residents to care for during a 12-hour shift with the help of only 3 CNAs. My pay was only $22.00 an hour. One of my classmates told me that he read an article that unemployment among new nursing graduates is so high because they will not accept anything less than their "ideal" nursing job.
Wow. Where I work they offer time and a half and THATS IT. When it was suggested they offer something more incentive-wise the nursing director repeated that time and a half IS the incentive. And we only get time and a half if you're asked to work in the next 72 hours; if you're agreeing to pick up a shift 4 days away you get straight time until you reach 40 hours.
I'm curious what you consider "huge incentives"? When we are short my unit offers time and a half pay, plus an additional $100. That's not super motivating to me. What does your unit offer in comparison?
"The constant training (and turnover) of new grads increases the stress of units considerably. (Typical med/surg nurse/patient ratio is 3:1, sometimes 4:1)"
Seriously? I went from 8:1 hell to 6:1 "Nirvana"! If our ratios were the same as yours, I would absolutely have a fit; certainly I wouldn't leave.
We can talk about shortage all day give an opinion but the data is there. It's there many variables that make that difference yes. During my BSN I did many papers and research that stuck with me. With baby boomers retiring soon there will be an influx of positions. Also people living longer with more chronic conditions will create more issues of a shortage. There will not be enough care facilities to support these numbers for patients. So there are buildings not ever existing for the shortage they expect. There is a high burn out with in first year and many don't stay in nursing or move to something other than the labor, stress induced, low staffing conditions that we are dealt. By 2030 projection is 960,000 shortage and home health will grow the most. Geographical location makes a huge difference, some are more picky with magnet status and experience. Cost reduction to and it costs alot more to keep training than retaining staff because it's ever evolving. Also if California nursing schools could fill all positions each year and they all passed NCLEX and received a job they still are only putting out 60% of quota of the entire state. So there are nursing jobs everywhere and will be a shortage and administrators will expect us to do more with less which pushes many out. We need need to form together with legislation to put laws protecting us and our patients.
Also I work full time at a medical surgical unit my average ratio is 6:1 sometimes going up to 7:1. We are required to even start out with 5 in a shift so they staff accordingly.
Also prn at a care center at night they have 109 beds and 3 nurse and 6 CNAS at night. Don't remember numbers during day. But average 40 pts per nurse and 2 CNAS.
I'm working on my FNP to get away from bed side nursing because it is grueling mentally and physically on body.
Is it a nursing shortage or a hiring shortage? If units are understaffed for the status of the patient, it could be they are unwilling to train new nurses to work there. Or it could be they just don't want to pay more nurses.
I personally think the real shortage [a word applied to all levels of nurses] is in the upper degrees. Those who can teach and do research [at least that is what we were told when I went for my BSN.] You take a lot of courses to prime you for MSN but not many courses you will actually use at the BSN level-go figure. Do you give your kid their locker number years before they enter school in order to prime them? Or do you give them what they need to live at the place they are?
I am not a nurse, yet, but I have been a teacher for years and not a stranger to the job market. Some mentioned that there are more applicants than there are jobs in nursing. Well, such trend is not only specific to nursing job, but I would say, in teaching, and, for the most part, for any other job out there. Before I even got my first teaching job I had to work as a deli clerk. Even to get that job I had to interview while 25 other applicants waited in the lobby. The point is, there will always be more graduates/applicants than there are jobs available. It is all in competition. The more competitive you are, the better chances of getting a job you have. With that said, for new RN grads, like I see myself in a couple of years, just getting an RN job would be sufficient enough for the time being.
NEVER believe anything that comes out of Washington/government. The ACA is a giant failure that is going to collapse in 2017.
There is no nursing shortage. There are plenty of nurses around. Hospitals just don't want to hire them & take money away from their bottom line that allows its administration to get their 6 figure salaries and generous bonus packages. By hospitals constantly crying that there is a nursing shortage makes the general public think that they can't get nurses, and that's why their patients have to wait 4 hours for pain meds.
Same where I live. I was doing clinicals on a tele unit earlier this semester and the floor manager told us that the hospital system officially declared itself as having a nursing shortage. She said that after hiring new grads this past spring, they STILL had positions open. Same hospital just opened up new grad interviews
Yes, we don't graduate until June and they are already looking to hire us. Another hospital came to campus last week trying to recruit.
And there hire new grads straight into specialties like ICU, ER, L&D. My friend in a CNA at the hospital, and they offer bonuses for EXTRA shifts. So not just overtime, but for working ANY shifts you are not scheduled. For CNA's, working an extra 16 hours in a pay period gives them a bonus of about $600. She's PRN and rolling in it right now.
PuppyMolly
1 Post
In some places, hospitals will hire only experienced nurses, so it may seem like there's a shortage. Having said that, there is definitely going to be a shortage of nurses, particularly nurse practitioners, as more people enter the health care system due to the ACA. Right now, I think community health, geriatric, and psych nurses are in demand. Nursing faculty are greatly needed, but the must have graduate degrees.