Working RNs and the CNA are to blame for new graduate RN program shortages .

demylenated, BSN, RN · Jun 16, 2012

I am shocked at the sense of entitlement in the culture today. Amazing.

"I graduated, so move out of the way, I deserve a job now that you've worked 20 years and just want a car. I need a job, so you quit, it is my turn."

Um, no. That isn't the way the world works. I don't care if an older nurse is a millionaire, she deserves to work in her position just as much as anyone else. You are welcome to find a different career.

(This is not attacking the writer of the OP directly. I've seen this attitude so much and, frankly, it is appalling.)

JZ_RN · Jun 16, 2012

Blaming other nurses is not fair, since they DO deserve to keep their jobs as long as they are doing quality work, plus they are not the ones keeping the places from hiring, it's a corporate hiring freeze that keeps them from hiring. Meanwhile they will take all the admissions they can get .....

interleukin · Jun 16, 2012

I believe the new nurses are transferring the anger they've developed when they suddenly realize their wonderful nursing school never really told them how tough things are for new nurses.

You see, nursing school are businesses...in the business to make money, not necessarily apprise students of current trends, especially if it will affect their bottom line

Schools hope nurses believe faux media reports of shortages...perhaps for seasoned nurses, but no shortage of new ones.

For some careers, new people mean more energy and lower costs. For nursing, there's the higher potential cost of patient safety issues and high upfront cost of training.

Hold the schools accountable....like the online schools who prowl for GIs(and their benefits) who end up with worthless degrees and exhausted educational funding.

kids · Jun 16, 2012

I have to admit, I am laughing a little bit at the CNA being included in the title. CNAs make a paltry pittance for the heavy work they perform.

Considering the OP's location I think CNA is referring to the California Nurse's Asociation.

Upper management usually blames all they can on unions.

morte, LPN, LVN · Jun 16, 2012

I tried pointing this out already, perhaps you will have better luck.

Considering the OP's location I think CNA is referring to the California Nurse's Asociation.
Upper management usually blames all they can on unions.

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Jun 16, 2012

I am a new grad. A chief of staff of a major northern California health system told meaRNs and their high salaries made new graduate programs cost prohibitive." I work in a hospital . And work with a few people who could retire. but they've opted to continue working, buying property, cars, while i work every day, rent a room in a house , wishing i had the same opportunities they were given as a new grad. The high paid bay area RN just isn't sustainable to the future of nursing.

I am surprised to hear that a Chief of Staff (a MD) of a major Northern California Health System had the time to tell a new grad that the whole healthcare crisis is because of the CNA.....California Nurses Association....and the "RNs and their high salaries made new graduate programs cost prohibitive" When Their yearly bonus can pay for at least 2 graduate nurse programs.

Being a New member you must feel very strong about this subject to make this your first post. Saying that the people you work with who could retire and are improving the economy buy buying property and cars are obstructing your success as a New Grad and your career as a nurse is a strong statement. I am sure followed by strong feelings and emotions.

I am sure that when you are one of those "people" who could retire but instead opt to continue working to now by those luxury items that you couldn't afford when your children were small.....will appreciate the work your predecessors did so you too may have this "High salary" may in the future view this very differently.

For, There but for the Grace of God Go I.

The economy is extremely bad and will remain bad for the foreseeable short future. The nursing jobs issue was based on a shortage that was projected to happen but never did because the national "safe staffing bills" never passed and the Stock market ruined many 401K's of these "people who could retire but have opted out". Since many hospitals don't offer pensions ....many of us lost our bottoms.

The new grad situation is a complicated one.....more complicated than a few people should stop being selfish and retire...Here are several articles 2 of which are through medscape which requires registration (but it is absolutely free and offers CEUs).

The Big Lie?
Without a doubt, the main source of frustration experienced by recently graduated and licensed but still unemployed nurses is what could be called "the big lie."In other words, the television commercials that encourage young people to become nurses -- and then abandon them for months (or years) without employment; and the educators who tell them that the associate's degree is perfectly adequate to guarantee employment, that they will have their pick of jobs when they graduate, and that there is plenty of time to get a BSN later on. Who knows whether it is greed, ignorance, or wishful thinking that underlies the fairy tales told to nursing students about their future job prospects? Whatever the motivation, the disillusionment of our new grads is palpable. The jobs they expected after all of their hard work just haven't materialized, and some grads are getting pretty desperate.
Will Work for Experience
The strongest motivator for the working population is money, but for some newly licensed registered nurses, getting valuable clinical experience seems to be taking precedence over the paycheck. Without that experience, the financial future of these nurses will remain precarious because they will be unable to find jobs.
"I am willing to take a 50% pay cut or even work for free so I can get the darned experience," said one frustrated new graduate who has been unable to break out of the unending cycle of "no job without experience, and no experience without a job."
She was not alone.

for the complete article Medscape: Medscape Access

Be a Nurse...If You Can
A popular Website about the nursing profession claims, "there has never been a better time to be a nurse." "Be" a nurse? Perhaps, but "become" a nurse? Perhaps, that is less certain. In spite of continuing to rank among the best careers and best jobs in America, the nursing profession is struggling to welcome its newest members with open arms and paychecks.
Not too long ago, the threat of a growing nursing shortage prompted thousands of prospective students to choose nursing as a career, and nursing schools rapidly filled to capacity. Nursing was frequently referred to as a "recession-proof" career, and the outlook for finding a job after graduation was rosy.
Experience and Employment: The Vicious Cycle
Now, the bloom, as they say, is off the rose. It seems that many of our new grads are stuck in that perennial dilemma: They can't get a job without experience, and they can't get experience without a job. This situation was not anticipated by thousands of nursing students who were told, often repeatedly, that a global nursing shortage practically guaranteed employment for them.
Consider, for example, the situation faced by new graduates in California.A survey of hospitals by the California Institute for Nursing & Health Care found that as many as 40% of new graduates may not be able to find jobs in California hospitals, because only 65% of the state's potential employers were hiring new graduates and generally planned to hire fewer new graduates than in previous years. Overwhelming numbers of new graduates submitted applications for the few available positions for new graduates. It wasn't that the hospitals weren't hiring at all, but that they wanted nurses with experience.

Medscape: Medscape Access

Has the Nursing Shortage Disappeared?
It's that time of year again. Graduating nursing students are preparing to take the NCLEX and are looking for their first jobs. This year, many are finding those first jobs in short supply.
Reports are rampant of new graduates being unable to find open positions in their specialty of choice, and even more shockingly, many are finding it tough to find any openings at all.
These new RNs entered school with the promise that nursing is a recession-proof career. They were told the nursing shortage would guarantee them employment whenever and wherever they wanted.
So what happened? Has the nursing shortage—that we've heard about incessantly for years—suddenly gone away?
The short term answer is clearly yes, although in the long term, unfortunately, the shortage will still be there.
The recession has brought a temporary reprieve to the shortage. Nurses who were close to retirement have seen their 401(k) portfolios plummet and their potential retirement income decline. They are postponing retirement a few more years until the economy—and their portfolios—pick up.
Many nurses have seen their spouses and partners lose their jobs and have increased their hours to make ends meet for their families. Some who left the profession to care for children or for other reasons have rejoined the workforce for similar reasons.
In addition, many hospitals are not hiring. The recession brought hiring freezes to healthcare facilities across the country, and many are still in effect. Help wanted ads for healthcare professionals dropped by 18,400 listings in July, even as the overall economy saw a modest increase of 139,200 in online job listings.

http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/content/NRS-254907/Has-the-Nursing-Shortage-Disappeared.html

I hope you find this helpful and I wish you the best i your nursing journey. Just my 2 cents.....:paw:

dirtyhippiegirl, BSN, RN · Jun 16, 2012

You know, I see a lot of bellyaching about the salaries of hospital administration on this site, and I find it irritating. It is simply a great deal more difficult to be a hospital CEO than it is to be a nurse. Even among MBAs and those with Master's in HCA, very, very few of them get to that level. In health care, as in everything else, the cream rises to the top. The fact of the matter is their job cannot be done by just anyone, while just about anyone can be a nurse these days. The antiestablishment attitude is really unbecoming and demonstrates a sad lack of understanding of the depth and complexity of leadership and health care management, IMO.

This might mean something if it was a level playing field for CEO-type jobs. The cream doesn't "rise to the top" -- the "cream" is always at the top. There are a certain class of people who are groomed from early childhood to take over elite positions. (Certainly not every position. Which is probably why the Horatio Alger stereotype still resonates with so many Americans.)

Tragically Hip · Jun 16, 2012

The fact that there are so many profoundly dysfunctional institutions is pretty good evidence that what rises to the top is not necessarily the cream.

My father worked for a hospital that was taken over by a notorious hospital company, run by a notorious CEO (now a governor), and he saw first-hand the incompetence of some managers. The Peter Principle indeed.

morte, LPN, LVN · Jun 17, 2012

depends on you POV, from theirs they did fine, made money...

The fact that there are so many profoundly dysfunctional institutions is pretty good evidence that what rises to the top is not necessarily the cream.
My father worked for a hospital that was taken over by a notorious hospital company, run by a notorious CEO (now a governor), and he saw first-hand the incompetence of some managers. The Peter Principle indeed.

DoGoodThenGo · Jun 17, 2012

yeah, i get that. i have been around for a few decades. but even for 'back then' it wasn't a lot for the education a nurse had to have, compared to what other people made. my brother worked in a grocery store and made more money than i did per hour. and they pay i was talking about was new grad pay, not senior nurse pay.

one can well remember the sunday new york times employment/help wanted section back in the 1980's. you had pages upon pages of nursing adverts from all the nyc hospitals and the wages ran something around $17k to maybe 20k per year for new grads. experienced rns got a little more (but not that much) and there was sometimes a bit more for shift differential and weekends.

now one could flip several pages over and find the want ads for secretaries and other female office workers for the same pay with only a high school diploma required. graduates of drake, katherine gibbs and other secretarial colleges maybe got a few shills more but the bottom line was one's typing and steno speeds along with office skills. those things were usually taught to all female nyc high school students.

one of the reasons nursing has historically short of warm bodies is that it was mainly a female profession that facilities exploited for cheap labour. many female nurses didn't hang around long if possible. many married and if they were lucky could stop working all together or cut down to per diem/part time work. by the 1990's you had jobs opening up for nurses in other places such as insurance companies and experienced nurses leaped at the chance to get off the floors.

it has only been within the rather recent history that rns have been pulling down "big money". much of the gains came from a combination of unions and the last "nursing shortage" that forced hospitals to offer better wages to attract and retain staff. it may seem hard for some to credit now, but there was a time a well seasoned nurse could leave a job on friday and be on duty somewhere else no later than one week later. this at the same or better wages.

DoGoodThenGo · Jun 17, 2012

I am a new grad. A chief of staff of a major northern California health system told me, "RNs and their high salaries made new graduate programs cost prohibitive." I work in a hospital . And work with a few people who could retire. but they've opted to continue working, buying property, cars, while i work every day, rent a room in a house , wishing i had the same opportunities they were given as a new grad. The high paid bay area RN just isnt sustainable to the future of nursing.

OIC so when an older/experienced physican pulling down big money and owns several large homes, takes trips to Tuscany every summer and St.Bart's in the winter, drives a Mercedes S class and so forth that is his rightful due. OTHTO god forbid a nurse or any other worker starts getting their's, then we hear a different story.

Experienced nurses pulling down too high wages and bennies were some of the same reasons management/administration gave during the late 1980's and 1990's to get shot of them. They were "too expensive" for the new managed care systems and thus had to go.

Bet this CofS would be happy if nurses went back to simpering around in white dresses and caps not opening their mouths except to say "yes" and "no" doctor.

What crust.

DoGoodThenGo · Jun 17, 2012

I am a new grad. A chief of staff of a major northern California health system told me, "RNs and their high salaries made new graduate programs cost prohibitive." I work in a hospital . And work with a few people who could retire. but they've opted to continue working, buying property, cars, while i work every day, rent a room in a house , wishing i had the same opportunities they were given as a new grad. The high paid bay area RN just isnt sustainable to the future of nursing.

Another thing.

Your title mentions "CNA's" as part of this high wage nursing staff problem. Am sure there are many whom would love to know where nursing assistants are pulling down big money. The ones I know are either making minimum wage or barely above. Certainly nothing one could call a living wage; well not for NYC anyway.