Survey: Would there be a nursing shortage if...

llg, PhD, RN · Mar 3, 2003

I believe there would still be a shortage because of the complex demographics that are contributing to the current situation. However, it might be less severe.

llg

Sleepyeyes · Mar 3, 2003

i think there would be, because nursing is just not something anyone can do "just for the money."

But there might be less of a shortage, and more talented people would be attracted to the field with better pay and benes.

NurseShell · Mar 3, 2003

Ok here goes...I'm not becoming a nurse for the money...although it will be nice to get a paycheck. It doesn't matter how much you pay or how "good" your benefits are...if you treat me like crap I'm gone!! Having worked in healthcare the majority of my working life I think that's the issue. Nurses are often treated like "doormats" - I've seen it - I fully expect to have days like that in the future...BUT!! I truly feel "called" to nursing, I'm good at it...it definitely takes a certain type of person to be a good/successful nurse!! There are several people I know that just aren't cut out to be nurses and I keep wondering when they are going to figure it out. They don't like the tasks, they can't understand the theory, they "suck" in clinicals...clue phone, it's for you!!

Anyhoo, IMHO, it's not the pay, it's the atmosphere that is causing the "shortage".

Liann · Mar 3, 2003

Better pay and benefits might help recruit more nurses, but they wont STAY if the working conditions remain unbearable.

kaycee · Mar 3, 2003

Originally posted by Liann
Better pay and benefits might help recruit more nurses, but they wont STAY if the working conditions remain unbearable.

DITTO!

Hardknox · Mar 3, 2003

Well said, Nurseshell. It's definately NOT about the $. Many complex issues. You have new nurses coming on a job with BIG bonuses and making almost as much as the veteran nurses. Most leave within a year. What does that tell you? NO ONE LIKES TO BE TREATED LIKE CRAP! And with liability issues so prevalent it is a loose/loose situation.

Brian, ASN, RN · Mar 3, 2003

I knew this was a loaded question when I asked it, but..... I know that issue is far more complex than just one aspect like $$$, but I just thought it would make an interesting discussion.

I would agree that most people, if not all, do not go into nursing for the $$$$$. But after they become a nurse and realize the work it entails and the poor working conditions, they start to think "I don't make enough to put up with this".

I also think that many nurses are leaving the profession because they may be looking in to the future at their long term/retirement years and seeing that their retirement benes are not great and they are looking for a more stable future.

I also tend to think that there is not as much of a "nursing shortage", as there is a shortage of nurses willing to put up with the working conditions, pay and benefits and leaving the profession.

I dunno.... I definately think that $$ plays a bigger role than most nurses say. It seems that there is a stigma that if you ask for more money, your a bad nurse, because nurses should be doing what they do for a warm fuzzy feeling, not for a fair wage??? :confused: Just my $0.02

NancyRN · Mar 3, 2003

I think I earn good money per hour because I do agency work. I don't have the stamina to work more than one or two days a week. I'd work for less money per hour if the work wasn't so brutal; I could work more days and not spend my days off recuperating!

eltrip · Mar 3, 2003

The working conditions, management, and treatment by physicians all factor into the exodus of nurses leaving the bedside setting. Money is a contributing but is, by no means, the only one.

wv_nurse 2003 · Mar 3, 2003

IMHO--more money and better benefit are tried and true ways NOT to try to fix the nursing shortage. The last "shortage" was treated (at least in my area) with large pay raises, and increased benefits--

Yes, on the short term it attracted more people into the field--but for all the wrong reasons. These people quickly grew tired of the work, and responsibility--for what was (at least to them) still not enough money.

More money and benefits is never a BAD thing--but its like throwing a glass of water on the towering inferno....

SandyB · Mar 3, 2003

Ditto to the above posts. Its' not the money as much as the working conditions that chase nurses away.