Just wondering what everyone's perspective is on this. The average RN is 45 y/o, and shortages seem to be cyclical. Do you believe that over-saturation of the market with new grad nurses will obliterate the long-term shortage? OR..as the economy continues to show signs of improvement (slowly, but surely..it is), will nurses leave the profession like they did before the economy tanked?
This article does a good job of putting things into perspective:
Nursing education should have less fluff, and should be more difficult. A lot of the BSN curriculum is garbage. Unless you're getting a degree with an emphasis in teaching, A higher-level degree should equal a higher level of clinical hours. Period. Nursing education should be more hospital-based. That way new grads could hit the ground running which would decrease orientation costs for hospitals and make new grads more employable. That way the 25% of new grads who quit within the first year could have the option to quit sooner and be weeded out which would in turn open up more job opportunities for people who actually want to be nurses.
I absolutely agree. Nursing students should be able to graduate ready to go. It's not fair for the school to transfer the job of "teaching" a person how to function on a floor to the facilities. Of course in this economy it's harder ( not impossible ) to figure out the real core problem. Is it too many graduates or a decline in healthcare consumption.
There should however be truth in advertising. In NZ I was accepted to law school straight out of high school ( thats the entry standard back there) the faculty there was very honest in pointing out that only 25% of graduates would work as a lawyer. That was enough to turn me off.
It's hard there are no jobs anywhere and to many nursing seems like a job oasis though the information they are basing their impressions on is about 5 years out of date. For many people its go back to school or sit at home and do nothing. I think in the next decade we'll have a weeding out in many fields people jumped into for the job.
I jumped straight out of law school into IT right before the dot.com boom. Back then we heard the same thing nurses were hearing. Guaranteed job $$$ etc etc etc. Lucky I didn't become a real estate agent as well eh?
Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
It's hard there are no jobs anywhere and to many nursing seems like a job oasis though the information they are basing their impressions on is about 5 years out of date. quote]
*** I would argue that even 5 years ago there was absolutly no nursing shortage. Even back in 2000-2005 when in my state new grads were getting $5-$10K sign on bonuses and there were tons of open positions in every hospital. When I looked at the number of lisensed RNs in my state there were more than enough to fill every RN position in the state with 4 or 5 RNs. Of course some of these nurses were retired or stay at home moms or other wise not practicing, some must have been travel nurses who didn't live in the state. However even if I figure half of the RNs listed on Board of Nursing site were among them we still had 2-3 RNs for every position in the state.
What there was, was a shortage of RNs willing to work for the pay, benifits and working conditions being offered. Many RNs must have been working in other fields. My guess is that it was much more a statement about RN working conditions and pay than about any real shortage of RNs.
Not disagreeing you on that point though I wonder since many nurses hold licenses in other states wouldn't that be counted twice if you just look at licensed RN's. Of course so far as data r/t the number of nurses in each state that's the best we have.
Specializes in med/surg/tele/LTC/homecare/correctional/.
Just wondering what everyone's perspective is on this. The average RN is 45 y/o, and shortages seem to be cyclical. Do you believe that over-saturation of the market with new grad nurses will obliterate the long-term shortage? OR..as the economy continues to show signs of improvement (slowly, but surely..it is), will nurses leave the profession like they did before the economy tanked?
This article does a good job of putting things into perspective:
I happen to think that the "shortage" was nothing but contrived media propaganda in the late 1990s, which was hyped up by our government, depts of labor and industry, hospitals and nursing homes, physician offices and outpatient facilities, to create an illusion of a job solid, well paying career path. It was so contrived and untrue that we now have a market saturation problem. Evidence, Doctors office in PA needs PT LPN, $12.00 per hour, no benefits.
Well I guess a shortage appears every time there are enough disillusioned nurses fed up enough to leave the field. Ergo as long as there are disillusioned nurses there will be shortages. We just have to calculate how long it takes to get starry eyed to cynical to predict when the next one will arrive. Also we need to factor in the ability to leave ones profession which right now many cannot.
My mom teaches nursing and I am getting ready to graduate. But, what she teaches is that when the economy is good, the nursing jobs are there. When the economy is bad, there aren't any nursing jobs or they don't want new grads because it costs money to train, but also old nurses (sorry for the terminology) are keeping their jobs.
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
I'm surprised they don't just hire a MA and call her a "nurse."
Yep - there's a tendency in these discussions to view nursing employment as a simple replacement - switching in and out like a lightbulb as if the entire fabric of our healthcare system is static - regardless of the state of the overall economy, transferring of skills to unlicensed techs, technology and freestanding specialty outpatient centers. (to name a few).
Doctors who may have preferred to hire a licensed nurse in the past face their own money crunch issues now. They will look for the cost-savings that have the least negative effect on their practice first.
I'm not going anywhere, enjoy my job and enjoy working with my coworkers (I think having good coworkers makes a huge difference), but...
If there are as many nurses country wide as there are on here (statistically speaking) that are quitting nursing altogether, then there should be a surplus of jobs available within the next few months lol.
tothepointeLVN, LVN
2,246 Posts
I absolutely agree. Nursing students should be able to graduate ready to go. It's not fair for the school to transfer the job of "teaching" a person how to function on a floor to the facilities. Of course in this economy it's harder ( not impossible ) to figure out the real core problem. Is it too many graduates or a decline in healthcare consumption.
There should however be truth in advertising. In NZ I was accepted to law school straight out of high school ( thats the entry standard back there) the faculty there was very honest in pointing out that only 25% of graduates would work as a lawyer. That was enough to turn me off.
It's hard there are no jobs anywhere and to many nursing seems like a job oasis though the information they are basing their impressions on is about 5 years out of date. For many people its go back to school or sit at home and do nothing. I think in the next decade we'll have a weeding out in many fields people jumped into for the job.
I jumped straight out of law school into IT right before the dot.com boom. Back then we heard the same thing nurses were hearing. Guaranteed job $$$ etc etc etc. Lucky I didn't become a real estate agent as well eh?