The Nursing Shortage

[CrunchRN, ADN, RN]

So, I still hear the term "nursing shortage" here and elsewhere.

I would love to hear from people about whether there is a nursing shortage in their region and where that region is.

In my area of North Texas we have no nursing shortage that I can see.

What is your experience?

I laugh when I see the term "nursing shortage" I usually tend to think it is BS except for a few places like Nebraska and the Texas border that are less desirable. I feel it is used to manipulate people and funding.

Am I wrong? What are your thoughts?

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

There is no shortage in my area either. Frankly I think it is the hospitals tha perpetuate this myth an excuse to run short AND to keep the supply up to stay in the bargaining seat.

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

CrunchRN: You are right, not much of a shortage in East Texas either, although certain specialities are always in demand. I think the term refers to the number of vacancies that will occur as my generation retires. Also, I agree that there are underserved areas all over the country. Maybe we will get to the point that we all work for the govt and get jobs assigned, based on need. That is what some countries do already.

[CrunchRN, ADN, RN]

I am 51 classicdame and I probably will not be able to retire until age 68 because of health insurance and the ever increasing retirement age. I wonder how many of our generation will really be able to retire when expected?

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

I am 66 and working for insurance too. I get life, health, vision and dental cheaper than Medicare + Supplement and pays better. There would be more retiring if we could afford it. Makes it tougher on young people that we hang in there, but do not feel I have a choice.

[JustcallmeNurse]

There is no shortage in the Philadelphia/southern New Jersey area. In fact, there is a huge overabundance of nurses here. Jobs are hard to come by, especially if you are a new grad.

[RainMom]

Not a nursing shortage but shortage of smart & effective mgmt who won't replace staff that leave for various reasons, causing a cascade of even more staff to leave & then stand there scratching their heads without a freaking clue.

[RunBabyRN]

Definitely no shortage in the San Francisco Bay Area.

I do see a lot of what you mean about not being able to afford to retire. I see a lot of it, and I think it's been a common theme since 2008. I hope there's enough change in this country to allow those who want to retire to do so. I hope I can afford to retire when my time comes!

[Susie2310]

No nursing shortage whatever, but in my area the myth of the "severe shortage" is still perpetuated.

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

Upper Midwest, no shortage here. In fact, my hospital w/ >1200 RNs isn't hiring new grads at all right now. I know because my husband's boss's sister-in-law is a new grad and having trouble finding a job, so I e-mailed one of our recruiters asking if they'd consider looking at her resume for future positions... Nope. They "cannot save resumes for future applications."

[OKNurse2be]

I don't know if I would call it a shortage per se, but I do know that my hospital is hiring quite a few new nurses (myself included), and the unit I am hired on to work at is short quite a few nurses and has to rely on float pool to fill the gaps. A bunch of new grad nurses from my cohort have been able to secure jobs already as well at various facilities in the area. I live in Oklahoma City area.

[nursel56]

Southern California= no shortage. A lot of the news coverage is generated by people associated with nursing programs. We really have enlarged the nation's capacity to graduate new nurses in the last approx 25 years with a variety of strategies. New Accelerated BSN programs in particular seem to be sprouting up every few weeks!