Where Did the Nursing Shortage Go?

CCL RN, RN · Jan 31, 2011

The issue is this: we are in a tough economy right now. Nurses are still needed. New grads are not.

Hospitals are trying to cut costs, and new grads are expensive and risky. I forgot what the percentage of new grads leaving the bedside within 1 year was, but it's too high a cost right now.

So new grads are in a pinch right now, and the rush to flood the market with them has backfired.

This isn't the fault of a new grad, but they bear the results of what has happened. Hopefully, the market will pick up soon...

Popwhizbangz, LPN · Jan 31, 2011

I see long-term shortage, with short- term lessening because many nurses who left are coming back for now, and many aging nurses are still working, more so than in most industries. Median nurse age is, without any hard data at hand, in the 50s? Matches what I see, with many nurses eligible for Social Security still working, doing fine work, but it inevitably squeezes out new folks a bit. For now - the long term tend still strongly favors new hires, so new folks will find work, if they persist, and take less desirable jobs for now while they wait. Which many of us did even in better times - getting in the door is the single most powerful way to generate more options. Don't give up, time is on your side.:redbeathe:nurse:

SummitRN, BSN, RN · Jan 31, 2011

The problem is the idea that: "there may be a nursing shortage again in 5-10 years, so let's keep opening new nursing programs RIGHT NOW." Creating a bunch more new grads right now will not yield an increased employment pool when the economy improves. Nurses that came for opportunity and found it will still leave. Those who couldn't find jobs will not be employable.

NaKcl, BSN, RN · Jan 31, 2011

I believe nursing shortage is current. It just is hospitals don't want to spend $$ on hiring nurses. They hire minimum number of new nurses and increase the pt. / nurse ratio. they even cut using gency nurses and pressuring existing nurses to take more patients. In my opinion, it is not a smart move. nurses will get tired and wear out sooner than they would and hospitals will end up dealing with the shortage forever.

kcmylorn · Feb 1, 2011

As for the" foot in the door philosophy", that's a crock if I ever heard one. I took a per deim position in a heart speciality hospital- I had been out of work for 5 months in the beginning of 2008, applied to an number of positions/full time, seen advertised. The only position that called for the interview was this per deim- requirement was experience( which I definately had) I held this "old" philosophy of "foot in the door", It was said to me when I was hired"at least you will have your foot in the door" and "keep watching for an open position". It was the worst floor in the hospital(no one wanted to be pulled there) I stuck it out( no beneifits, no thank you for coming in during snow storms, holiday's) It got to be I was expected to put my entire life on hold waiting for this place to call or cancel( cant pay mortgage if your cancelled- no vacation time/per deim) I got a temp position( still thinking 'foot in the door, watch for an open position, things will get better, no more hopscotching around with other small jobs to make due) NEVER HAPPENED. When this place found out I had a second job- I was dogmeat. I was terminated 2 months after the creep NURSE manager found out I had this second(temp) job. In her eyes, I was not at her beck and call.( call me in @ 0830 AM, 1030 AM, and 1130AM to work to 3p or 730 p, cancel me for 2 months straight on my regular signed up for commitment times, call me in for 4 hrs/month and cancel me for the rest of the month) She had a full time position and gave it to someone from the outside and terminated me. I was told when she terminated- they expected me to come in when they called me for short staffing and not have to call agency" I was punnished for having a regular paying(30/hr week) short term job. So moral of story/lesson learned/ BEWARE: if you take a per deim position that is all you will ever be @ that place, PER DEIM!! They expect you to get up at 0530AM put on your uniform, waiting by the phone picking your nose, just INCASE. their moron a***s are short staffed.!! The reason I was called in at such odd times, this floor was what that hospital considered "med/surg". This floor's patient population had every patient on tele and 3 day post open hearts,post thorasic, post vasular, post MICU breathers, post cath's. The freeking floor that the CVSICU used to clean it's CVICU out onto to get fresh post open hearts into the SICU. This wagon train of tubes and pumps usually happened before lunch. Some time I got patients back to back some times I got patients at 0715 in the AM. The policy was to clean out the CVSICU on surgical resident rounds which happened @530 A. So I was the nurse that received EVERY transfer from the CVSICU- mediastinal chest tubes, foleys, pacer wires, imeds/heperain drips, PTT's to call, H&H's tocall, Bood to give -I was the transer receiving nurse, holy crap!! There were no real med/surg patients in this hospital. And then you never do anything right and to give a full time position to an outsider-

NaKcl, BSN, RN · Feb 1, 2011

Kcmylorn, Sorry for what happened to you. that sounds awful!!

angel337, MSN, RN · Feb 1, 2011

hospitals are not as desperate as they used to be and they can be picky about who they hire. when the economy is bad, nurses that once worked pt now work ft and if they once worked agency or registry they are now working staff positions. i think its hard for everyone no matter what their career choice is.

Popwhizbangz, LPN · Feb 1, 2011

Sounds rough, sorry to hear it. Question is, what do you do about it? You can give up, move on - I've done it myself more than once, sometimes that's for the best. Or you can keep plugging, looking for a viable position. There's no guarantees either way, that's for sure, and no easy answers. Nursing positions are bound to rebound eventually - question is, how long it will be, and how you can wait. My apologies I can't offer anything better than that. Keep in mind, though, that things have been fairly crappy across the entire economy lately, and that, we can only hope, is a temporary situation. Good luck.

OCNRN63, RN · Feb 1, 2011

I was reading my Texas Nursing Association paper recently and came across this interesting article on page 6 (sorry but I could only find the pdf file on the web) http://www.nursingald.com/Uploaded%5CNewsletterFiles%5CTX1_11.pdf
It focuses on Texas, but the reasons behind it definitely affect the entire nation too. It has good statistics and research to back up why we still face a long-term nursing shortage and currently not a short-term one.
Here are some quotes directly from the article I found interesting:
"Of the 355 (out of 592) Texas hospitals participating in the survey, the reported overall position vacancy rate for RNs was 6.7% and the median facility vacancy rate was 6.2% (range of 4.7% in the Panhandle Region to 7.5% in the Rio Grande Valley Region). The overall position vacancy rate compares of 6.7% compares with a 2008 vacancy rate of 11.2% and a 2006 vacancy rate of 10.2% - a significant drop! Findings seem consistent with what many newly graduated nurses and hospitals have anecdotally reported: the nursing shortage that has plagued the country for the last decade, and was projected to get much worse, has abated. What?!!! No nursing shortage?"
"Analyzing data from 1973 through 2008, Peter Buerhaus, PhD, RN, FAAN and colleagues discovered an important pattern: whenever the economy went from boom to bust, RN hospital employment increased more than five times the annual rate of employment. When unemployment rates increase due to an economic recession, nonworking RNs return to the labor market, and those already working increase their hours worked. This trend has intensified during the current recession where RN hospital employment has increased by 18% in 2007 and 2008. No wonder hospital vacancy rates are down!"
"But the nursing shortage is not over. Nurses over 50 years of age comprise the majority of RN employment growth recently experienced. These nurses are Baby Boomers themselves and once the economy stabilizes, they will likely resume retirement plans, leaving a gap in the nursing workforce."
"The number of RN graduates increased from 4,500 in 2001 to 7,000 in 2007."
"Retention is reflected in in turnover rates and while Texas hospitals currently enjoy relatively low RN vacancy rates, the median RN turnover rate reported in the Hospital Nurse Staffing Survey was 20%!"

We can't afford to retire. SS has raised the retirement age for people like me to 67-69y. You read that right. I'll be a geriatric nurse taking care of geriatric patients. And I am setting a good chunk of money aside for retirement, not counting on SS.

No one is betting on the economy stabilizing anytime soon. Even if you have a job you hate, you hang onto it tooth and nail because another one may not come along.

SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN · Feb 1, 2011

"retention is reflected in in turnover rates and while texas hospitals currently enjoy relatively low rn vacancy rates, the median rn turnover rate reported in the hospital nurse staffing survey was 20%!"

20% turnover for new grads is nothing new. therefore, hospitals choose not to hire them, hire former techs, and/or create residency programs to try to bring this number down. the real problem as i see it is that although residency programs can be very informative, the floors they stick new grads on are not supportive even to former techs. thus, i doubt that this number will drop any time soon. :twocents:

steelydanfan · Feb 1, 2011

hospitals are not as desperate as they used to be and they can be picky about who they hire. when the economy is bad, nurses that once worked pt now work ft and if they once worked agency or registry they are now working staff positions. i think its hard for everyone no matter what their career choice is.

Hospitals are still as desperate for staff as they used to be, they are not as smart as they used to be about recruiting and retaining.

It's simply not good business to treat staff and potential employees like surplus goods.

The amount of extra time expected by a hospital in staff meetings, mandatory classes and inservices can be brutal. Don't expect people to be grateful because they HAVE a job. Especially when they are constantly scrutinized, evaluated and forced to comply with policies they KNOW to be wrongheaded and ineffective.