Whats next after the pandemic?

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Specializes in CCRN, Geriatrics.

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Now that COVID is slowing down are nurses gonna be unemployed ? 
 
Last year, all the hospital’s in my area increased their rates which was a blessing considering all that we were experience. This past month my hospital has been putting us on call due to low census etc. I’ve been on call every week for the past month a 12hr shift. As a result I'm using PTO days that I would like to save just in case of an emergency or vacation etc. Despite the fact that I hardly have any as is. 

I thought that working in a hospital would provide me steady work. Instead they cancel a nurse and place a tech on instead. On call pays $4/hr. I worry that now a lot of jobs are going to furlough or lay off workers in order to budget or save money. Are any other nurses experiencing this? 

My background of nursing is primarily in subacute rehabilitation and longterm care which I loved and was almost never out of work. I went into the hospital out of fear of not gaining enough experience in order to excel in my career. Now I’m wondering if it was the right choice? 

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

I don't foresee widespread unemployment. There are always openings in med-surg, ICU/CCU ED and other busy areas. I expect a shortage of people wanting to stay in those areas for long, requiring more nurses to take their places. Also, LTC/Rehab are places that are always looking for nurses in my area.

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Specializes in CCRN, Geriatrics.
12 hours ago, SmilingBluEyes said:

I don't foresee widespread unemployment. There are always openings in med-surg, ICU/CCU ED and other busy areas. I expect a shortage of people wanting to stay in those areas for long, requiring more nurses to take their places. Also, LTC/Rehab are places that are always looking for nurses in my area.

I currently work on a Med Surg Unit right now. From im experiencing I can see why people may not want to stay. Hence why the hospital opens up Nurse Residency positions every few months with a 3 year agreement. And our ICU/ccu have a low census as well from what I was told. 

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I’m going to say it depends where you live.  Our hospital is always full and we can’t find enough people.  I remember years ago having low census here and there but even before the pandemic those days seemed to be long gone.  Now they are always wanting us to pick up.  
 

We only have a few covids in the hospital these days.  Everybody is just sick from everything else.  

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Agree with LovingLife123. We have been consistently full with hiring needs. 

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3 hours ago, Lovethenurse2b25 said:

Hence why the hospital opens up Nurse Residency positions every few months with a 3 year agreement.

Ugh. Can't wait til this explodes. What a dumpster fire.

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Specializes in CCRN, Geriatrics.
3 hours ago, LovingLife123 said:

I’m going to say it depends where you live.  Our hospital is always full and we can’t find enough people.  I remember years ago having low census here and there but even before the pandemic those days seemed to be long gone.  Now they are always wanting us to pick up.  
 

We only have a few covids in the hospital these days.  Everybody is just sick from everything else.  

We also are a non trauma Hospital. Slow on technology as well. They have plans to advance to a larger hospital in the future in order to compete with the other hospitals. I had a conversation with my supervisor recently about moving to a day position or finding another job because I can’t adjust to nights. And she basically told me to get in line with all of the others and that there was no day shift positions currently for nurses at all. I thought to myself I never heard of this before most hospital’s are fighting to get nurses in. 

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16 minutes ago, Lovethenurse2b25 said:

We also are a non trauma Hospital. Slow on technology as well. They have plans to advance to a larger hospital in the future in order to compete with the other hospitals. I had a conversation with my supervisor recently about moving to a day position or finding another job because I can’t adjust to nights. And she basically told me to get in line with all of the others and that there was no day shift positions currently for nurses at all. I thought to myself I never heard of this before most hospital’s are fighting to get nurses in. 

Trauma isn’t the end all.  But, if you work in a hospital that doesn’t keep critically ill due to lack of resources, I could see a census being lower.   They are either being sent out to a higher level of care by the ER or EMS is bypassing you altogether.  I might start looking elsewhere if that is the issue.

It takes years for hospitals to get the things into place to be a higher level of care hospital.  Those certifications take a lot of work and money.  Smaller hospitals don’t have that money.  
 

If it were me, I’d start looking elsewhere.  I don’t like using my pto for low census.  I’ll hold 12-24 hours for it just in case.  And a day for a call in if I were to become ill.  But I like to use mine for my personal fun time.  

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Specializes in CCRN, Geriatrics.
22 hours ago, LovingLife123 said:

Trauma isn’t the end all.  But, if you work in a hospital that doesn’t keep critically ill due to lack of resources, I could see a census being lower.   They are either being sent out to a higher level of care by the ER or EMS is bypassing you altogether.  I might start looking elsewhere if that is the issue.

It takes years for hospitals to get the things into place to be a higher level of care hospital.  Those certifications take a lot of work and money.  Smaller hospitals don’t have that money.  
 

If it were me, I’d start looking elsewhere.  I don’t like using my pto for low census.  I’ll hold 12-24 hours for it just in case.  And a day for a call in if I were to become ill.  But I like to use mine for my personal fun time.  

I am on a job search looking to transition into another area of nursing like your, case management, chart abstractor, insurance etc. 

At the moment I only have about 50 hours. Majority of my coworkers don’t have any hours. And fear they won't be able to take their vacations later on in the year. I will have to leave if I run out otherwise I would be on call with just $4/hr of pay. Which will not be enough for me to live off of. If this continues they’ll lose a ton of hardworking employees. 

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Specializes in ER.

I am cutting back my hours next month. I'm starting to feel a little burnt out from all the drama in healthcare. If I live through another policy change, that will be a miracle. The volume of emails we get alone is enough to drive someone to an asylum.

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Specializes in Cardiology.

I think it depends where you live. If you live in a rural area then yes that could be a problem. If you live in an urban setting I don't think it will be an issue. My old employer is admitting anyone and anything, probably as a money grab due to lost revenue during the early days of the pandemic. My current employer has been busy and we are short staffed. 

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I think hospitals will stay full because all the people who were told to stay home or pushed to the side for the covid crisis have either gotten sicker or in need of care for some compounded issue that may have been minor but was put off. Then on the flip side, there are nurses who worked like crazy and are burnt out and looking for a break.

I personally think they should take this dip and cross-train all nurses in critical care or related situations in case this ever happens again so there won't be a few nurses when there could be many more.

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