What The Bleep Happened To The Shortage?

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i live in boston, i graduated from a well known school of science with a bs in health sciences and then got my adn . i am more than qualified to work in a great hospital but i still can't find a job where i want to work so i have to ask...what the bleep happened to the shortage???????? :argue: every time someone says "oh, you won't have a problem getting a job as a nurse, there's such a demand" i just wanna kick them in the stomach but instead i say "oh no my friend, there are more nurses in ma than the states knows what to do with". i feel a little betrayed, schools don't tell you that the shortage is over in ma and go get a bsn because thats what hospitals really want and that's if you can get them to look at your resume :down:. does anyone else feel this way or am i just bitter that there is no shortage! :banghead:

Valerie, forgive me because I agree with you so often, but here you are just wrong. There is a nursing shortage. The last count conducted there were 126,000 unfilled nursing positions in the US. According to recent studies conducted for AACN the projected shortage by 2025 will be 500,00 unfilled nursing positions. You can follow the link bellow for more info.(http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Media/FactSheets/NursingShortage.htm).

Also, it does not matter if there are 10 million nurses not working now, there is still a shortage because they are not working. The projections take into account "baby boomers" retirement, large segment of population aging into retirement of the next 20 years, the current nurse attrition rate, and the number of new graduates the schools can produce.

Saying there isn't a nursing shortage because you are not personally experiencing one is short-sighted. Ask one of those Alaskan nurses if there is a shortage. Better yet, come to my 1000 bed hospital and pick any unit. You can work 7 days a week if you want to and half the staff there are either resource or agency.

As a profession we need to quit this nay-saying. This will be a problem and it may be huge. Ironically, while most nurses ask for higher wages as a way to reduce the nursing shortage, it is the nursing shortage that will most like force a salary hike through competition for competent staff.

Again, really sorry Valerie I just feel strongly about this topic.:imbar

Hi, I would love to personally come to your hospital and work because it has to be warmer than where I work. Also I would like to say that I agree with Valerie. In some hospital systems, they run the staff short on purpose to save money. The Catholic Health system is one of those systems. They only allow certain nurses on the per diem list. Nurses with good experience have asked to be on the per diem list and were not put on the list. Also, nurses were not always called to come in on that list for call-ins. So the nurses that day came to work and worked much harded than one person can possibly do. Because most of us take our work seriously, love our patients that can cause stress that most non-medical people would not understand. And I agree that there are more nurses available in number, but are not in the working nurses numbers. And the reason is often because they can't take the stress.; And no matter what we earn, we are soooo worth it because we are the ones that truly keep things going in the medical field, we are the labor in the health care field. We are the ones that know the details of our patients that convey it to the doctors so they can make decisions. We are the ones that have serious back problems, cry over our patients. love our patients and work harder than we ever thought we were capable of doing. so on one hand, yes there is a shortage, but on another there are definitely times the shortage is created.

I think nurses need to stand up and stop the importation of nurses from other countries to come and work in this country. They will be taking the possibility of jobs away from USA nurses, with USA credentials and that speak English, that understand our patients, and dont' work like dogs for a dollar. They are taking these foreign people and putting them up in housing in groups and give them a deal they couldn't have in their country. That is underhanded business in my estimation. There are enough nurses trained and educated in this country. If you give them better working conditions then they will come out and work.

I now work in a place where nurses run the show, but did work in a place where nurses were disrespected not only by administration but by the MDs. And there is a general disrespect just by our pay rates for what we do.

Nurses need to unite, and stick up for themselves and stop the shortages and the importantion of foreigners to make up for the "shortage". Think about all the nurses being pumped out of these schools?

Then think about the short hospital stays dictated by the insurance, and why is there a shortage. Part of the shortage is created, part for finances and I have seen it with my own eyes.

I became friends with my past charge nurse after I quit that horrid place. We go out together, I supported her through a personal crisis. She has told me the in's and out's of the shortage on our floor. Which was a step down. No place to be shorting ....but who gets the brunt, the nurses and the patients. Who makes out financially? the higher ups. the hospital system, and even the charge nurse gets a kick back in her annual bonus. Yes, it is true.

I would love to come to NC. It is coooold here in NY.

Take care, thanks for the web site and keep your eyes open for any shred of truth in what I had to offer on the topic of the shortage. I say it lovingly, not with any kind of animosity. I feel I am a caring nurse, bring joy to many patients and that is my purpose, along with skill and excellent care. But I do that IN SPITE of it all.

:typing

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

You will find if you check out the International forum that nurses have been hit by retrogression since Oct 2006 and many nurses are not getting visas to work in the US because there isn't any. Current processing dates for nurses abroad is Jan 2005 or before and to be honest there are not that many as until retrogression hit in 2006 many nurses was fast tracked through the system.

Don't get me wrong I firmly believe that each country regardless should always employ their own citizens first before bringing in others but for some people it is a dream and a way to improve their lives and chances should be given but not at the expensive of citizens

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Oakburne,

I have worked in 4 states and there was a different hourly wage for BSN-minimal-25 cents or so more per hour but it was something-this was floor nursing-not managment.

I actually took a pay cut to go into quaity improvement M-F,salary, no weekends, no holidays, and also no overtime, incentive or holiday pay.

There is a trade-off either way.

otessa

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Specializes in ICU, PACU, OR.

You need to check nurse internship opportunities. Many specialty areas of the hospital, such as OR, ICU, PACU, L&D, Med-Surg., and ICU offer nurse internships. It is a one or two year committment to the hospital, but that time can fly by.

Google nurse internships and see what comes up. I know depending on the FTE slots we have, we take on interns and train them. This is in Atlanta GA. We take a mix of new grads who have passed their NCLEX and have a state license in hand, and also experienced nurses that have not worked in specialty areas before. This may be helpful.

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ARGH - I'm just about to finish my accelerated program, and I'm already frustrated by the complete and utter lack of jobs in the state of MA. I'm sincerely hoping that my previous BS in Biology/Psych and now my BSN will help me in the way of finding a job when I'm done. The other thing I'm praying will help me is my stack of letters of rec from all my professors and clinical instructors. Somehow I don't feel like either of those will really matter in the job search.

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Specializes in telemetry, med-surg, home health, psych.

our census is down and we are all getting called off left and right....some of my colleages are waitressing and bartending on the side now to get some Christmas $$$$$.....no, there is no shortage of nurses..........

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I can hear you. The hiring freeze in Boston has been in place for over 2 years now. It's funny, but in California it's been the same thing - low census, people are getting called off, and a hiring freeze in place, although some hospitals in the area were hiring new grads and paid them $6,000 sign up bonuses just six month ago.

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Wow, I have to say that this is certainly not widely known to the general public! How can it be that those in the media have not picked up on this non-shortage?? (Albeit regional, apparently in some areas of the country and certainly the world, the shortage exists.)

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Specializes in ED, Cardiac Medicine, Retail Health.

Nursing is not recession proof as we are all finding out. With the loss of jobs and health insurance, people are holding off on getting procedures done until it becomes emergent. Also as spouses lose jobs, those in nursing who were working part time or per diem without benefits are forced into working full time again. These are tough economic times, and hospitals are feeling the pinch also. I want to remain optimistic, but I don't see an end in sight to this madness.

I feel for those who are entering nursing school, or are just graduating. The "happy times" for nurses in this region ended about 18 months ago. Now we are all just hoping to keep our jobs. Good luck to all!!!

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Specializes in ICU.
Nursing is not recession proof as we are all finding out. With the loss of jobs and health insurance, people are holding off on getting procedures done until it becomes emergent. Also as spouses lose jobs, those in nursing who were working part time or per diem without benefits are forced into working full time again. These are tough economic times, and hospitals are feeling the pinch also. I want to remain optimistic, but I don't see an end in sight to this madness.

I feel for those who are entering nursing school, or are just graduating. The "happy times" for nurses in this region ended about 18 months ago. Now we are all just hoping to keep our jobs. Good luck to all!!!

God, is this depressing. I sold my house and moved my family to attend an Accelerated BSN program starting this January (after spending 1.5yrs and thousands of dollars taking prereqs needed to be accepted to the program). The idea that I won't find a job 16 months from now at the end of this is BEYOND distressing...

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Specializes in LTC, Med/Surg, Peds, ICU, Tele.
God, is this depressing. I sold my house and moved my family to attend an accelerated BSN program starting this January (after spending 1.5yrs and thousands of dollars taking prereqs needed to be accepted to the program). The idea that I won't find a job 16 months from now at the end of this is BEYOND distressing...

Don't worry, the same thing happened when I was in nursing school. You'll get a job. I found one easily in LTC and then later made the move to acute care. It wasn't the end of the world, I got valuable experience there!

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Specializes in Emergency, Trauma, Critical Care.
On my very first job interview, there was never a mention of grades. Grades don't matter. What matters is that you pass the NCLEX exam, pass the hospital exam and get ready to work.

I've seen the so call "A" nurses. By in large they don't want to get their hands dirty and they think they know it all. They are dangerous. A "C" nurse will get her hands dirty and she works hard and is much the better nurse.

My husband is a college professor who teaches engineering students and he has always said that a "C" engineer makes the best engineer opposed to the "A" engineer who doesn't try as hard.

Successs is 1% inspiraton - 99% Perspiration. I agree.

While that may be true with many, don't generalize that all "A" nurses fit into that category. I got mostly A's in nursing school, and yes I do have the common sense and hard work ethics commonly seen of a "C" nurse.

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