Will the nursing shortage ever end?

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Hello I am taking courses at my college and I am very interested in nursing as a career. I did some research and bls.gov estimates a 22% increase for the demand of nurses through 2018. My question is after 2018 will there no longer be a demand for nurses? Thanks

Specializes in PeriOp, ICU, PICU, NICU.
YES THERE IS!!!!

... just not in your area! I'm living it right now! My employer are starting to mandate us back to work on our days off and they've closed our peds unit 'cause they do not have enough RN's to staff it! I wish people would stop making general statements when really the statements pertain to their region and not EVERYWHERE!

You either live in a cave or in a very undesirable area out in the desert somewhere.........lol (jk)

Are they actively trying to recruit? My are is undesirable somewhat and until recently were desperate for staff. They put out a few ads out there and now everybody and their mother (literally) moved to town and have a job. No positions are unfilled at the moment and the graduating new grads are out of work.

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"The school I am hoping to attend has 100% job placement as well."

That is not true. If they told you that, someone is telling a mistruth! No school is ever going to promise 100% placement! :twocents:

Agreed. That is the #1 tactic of predatory schools to get students in. They'll sell you a rainbow of stories about all the great things you will get if you go to their school, then hit you with a $50,000 bill for tuition. They'll convince you to take out loans to pay the tuition and promise that you'll be able to pay it back the minute you walk out the door with degree in hand into the arms of a wonderful employer who is waiting JUST FOR YOU!

Sigh. I have a real hate for those snake oil salesmen.

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"The school I am hoping to attend has 100% job placement as well."

That is not true. If they told you that, someone is telling a mistruth! No school is ever going to promise 100% placement! :twocents:

I never said they PROMISED me a 100% placement rate in the future. What I SAID, was that they have a 100% job placement rate. Rate...as in....out of 100 students, 100 students found jobs within 6 months of graduation. They didn't say to me..."I PROMISE you you will have a job". But what they DID show me, was that in the last 3 years (2010, 2009, 2008) they have had job placement rates of 100%, 98% and 100% respectively. That seemed pretty good to me....It also helps that they are a ridiculously well respected diploma program and many of the grads go on to work in their own facilities.

The BLS just named my city the #2 in the country for adding new jobs; A brand new hospital is being built 10 minutes from my house, etc...

I truly feel for those of you for whom there is no nursing shortage and jobs cannot be found in your area. I can only hope and pray I am not in the same situation one day...and of course, there is no GUARANTEE that I won't be. But I can't base my decisions on "maybe"...I need to look at the current situation because really - how can I know the future? A 'nursing shortage' is still heavily projected in our area...mainly due to the fact that it is consistently named the county in the US with the oldest population, outside of Palm Beach Florida. Will that come to fruition when I graduate in 2-3 years...I don't know! But right now...the school I am attending (hopefully) has excellent job placement rates, and my nurse friends whom I interviewed at the hospitals all report a lot of jobs out there...for ADN, diploma OR BSN. But of course, they all say the BSN is needed to move up...but that's another post.

Again, I get the frustration. But please don't mock those of us who dare to suggest that it isn't the same everywhere.

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.

Jlpsu - that sounds great! Good luck to you!

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Since you aren't a nurse yet, I advise you to research a little harder. Listings are always up but truth be told doesn't mean they are actively trying to hire nurses into them. It's an ilusion basically :lol2:

Also, USUALLY hospitals (in this economy) aren't exactly sitting around waiting for you to graduate to give you a job. Instead, they are being very picky even of the EXPERIENCED nurses that apply.

They want you to hit the road running. Trust me :twocents:

I've researched plenty. This isn't my first time at the rodeo. I interviewed about 8 of my nurse friends who are currently working, most at different facilities. All say that there are a lot of jobs out there. Again...I can't comment on if those jobs will STILL be there when I graduate, but no one can tell me they won't either. No one can tell the future...and in my county - they are still heavily projecting a nursing shortage in the next 10 years because of a heavily aging population.

New hospitals are being built, others are being rennovated and added on to...things are good in my area...right now. That's all I was trying to say. The fact that I say this does not make me naive. It just means my research showed something in my area that is not happening everywhere. It's not even happening on the other side of my same STATE. Just like the OP....in HER area, there IS a shortage. That does not make her naive for asking the question either.

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right! lol. I didn't know my question would cause an up roar

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Specializes in PeriOp, ICU, PICU, NICU.
I've researched plenty. This isn't my first time at the rodeo. I interviewed about 8 of my nurse friends who are currently working, most at different facilities. All say that there are a lot of jobs out there. Again...I can't comment on if those jobs will STILL be there when I graduate, but no one can tell me they won't either. No one can tell the future...and in my county - they are still heavily projecting a nursing shortage in the next 10 years because of a heavily aging population.

New hospitals are being built, others are being rennovated and added on to...things are good in my area...right now. That's all I was trying to say. The fact that I say this does not make me naive. It just means my research showed something in my area that is not happening everywhere. It's not even happening on the other side of my same STATE. Just like the OP....in HER area, there IS a shortage. That does not make her naive for asking the question either.

I wish you nothing more but the very best of luck when you do graduate and start looking for your first job :up:

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Actually I was just talking to a nurse who works at one of the local hospitals here in Ohio and she told me jobs are tight right now.

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right! lol. I didn't know my question would cause an up roar

I've only been posting for a month...but I learned very quickly that if you post something against the norm or current prevailing wisdom, be prepared to get skewered.

All of that being said, I have overwhelmingly found AN to be a very helpful community. Just don't make anyone mad. ;-) And to be fair to those nurses who do skewer people....some people on this board do ask ridiculous questions (Average IQ of a nurse, anyone?).

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Specializes in PICU, ICU, Hospice, Mgmt, DON.
Agreed. That is the #1 tactic of predatory schools to get students in. They'll sell you a rainbow of stories about all the great things you will get if you go to their school, then hit you with a $50,000 bill for tuition. They'll convince you to take out loans to pay the tuition and promise that you'll be able to pay it back the minute you walk out the door with degree in hand into the arms of a wonderful employer who is waiting JUST FOR YOU!

Sigh. I have a real hate for those snake oil salesmen.

Mazy, this is one of my pet peeves as well. When I went to school, 20 years ago, there were 2 nursing schools in my county. One was university level, one was community college. Now there are 8...there is a 2-3 year wait for the college level programs, and actually another university has been added. But there are 5 of the snake oil schools turning them out like lemmings with promises of how they will all get jobs....this is South Florida....the new grads around here are taking well over a year to find jobs or are relocating. The experienced nurses are having trouble too. And yes, there probably are jobs for LTC because of the elderly population but acute care, not so much.

The hospitals all advertise, but do not hire....that's the oldest trick in the book--they are all cutting staff..and the nurses will tell you that they are working short...so, yes, they will say there's a shortage, but they are not hiring.

I do see that the school system is advertising for school nurses right now, I think that's real...You would need peds experience, I think 2 years. and the pay is low, but if anyone in So Fl is looking that's an option for you.

I did it for years it's ok. PM me if you are interested.

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Specializes in PICU, ICU, Hospice, Mgmt, DON.
I've only been posting for a month...but I learned very quickly that if you post something against the norm or current prevailing wisdom, be prepared to get skewered.

All of that being said, I have overwhelmingly found AN to be a very helpful community. Just don't make anyone mad. ;-) And to be fair to those nurses who do skewer people....some people on this board do ask ridiculous questions (Average IQ of a nurse, anyone?).

Hey, jlpsu, that's my favorite....

I guess you have found our "your one stop thread for all of your AN questions"...but I hope you have also read it through and understand why we get so frustrated with some of those questions....:uhoh3:

that one is a case in point...and I hope you read that thread with the "tongue in cheek attitude" in which it was intended:)

as far as this topic goes...the ever popular nursing shortage....

it's also been beaten over and over and it's a very hot topic and rightfully so, there are a lot of unemployed nurses out there and so many schools are churning new ones out with false promises. This one just keeps on going....

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Personally I think its location, location, location and the position. Where I live and work, except the ICU, all the floors are short. My floor has 5 in orientation, and 4 new hires, and we are the best staffed! Every other floor is short. We have agency and traveler's filling positions until we can get regular staff hired. The problem, RN's come in get their 1-2 year experience and then move somewhere else because we are one of the few hospitals that will actually hire a new grad. It sucks for us "longtimers" because we invest so much time, effort and resources into people who are just using us as a stepping stone. But no one wants to move out to my neck of the woods, and everyone wants ICU.

everyone that i know wants ICU for 2 things:

1- ICU RNs are worshipped. literally. in my hospital you'd think they walked on water whilst saving lives literally every minute and the "rest of the RNs in the hospital are just sitting on there asses with their thumbs in their mouths" yes that's an actual quote from an ICU RN in my hospital. full disclaimer: I dont work ICU, i work intermediate care.

2- ICU RNs are treated pretty well. they have 2 patients and in my hospital much of the time they are 1 to 1. yes the patients are very very unstable and sick but still, if you had your pick would you rather have 8 walking talking call-light using med-surg pts or 2 vented-tented with foleys and Bards?? I typically have 3 pts regardless and i have to titrate drips, lots of meds, etc but I have sent people to ICU because they were hourly neuro checks (otherwise stable) which is too much for me and they were made 1 to 1s immediately when they arrived in ICU!?! Med-Surg & other acute care RNs are treated like s--- and it's obvious when you're a student so most new grads want ICU.

if the hospital management would start giving acute care RNs manageable pt ratios and stop treating the ICU peeps like demigods then you will see more new grads in med-surg

end hijack & rant

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