Nursing Shortage = Hoax

College Majors Nursing Major
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<p>Okay, so I wanted to be a nurse because I knew I was good at it (not passionate, just talented). Then I learned everyone and their brother is in nursing school. Seriously, my tiny college had 84 applicants last semester.</p>

<p>So a little research found me a lot of information, aout how 43% of nursing grads can't find jobs within 18 months, how there IS no shortage everyone talks about, how the baby boomers retiring/getting old, will not help matters due to the THOUSANDS of nurses being churned out.</p>

<p>So now I am pretty sure I am changing my major to something I am passionate about. Thoughts? Have you considered all of this?</p>

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<p>There are many more applicants for RN programs than there are seats. That has an advantage - the people who enter into quality nursing programs have the ability to finish the degree, as opposed to the old days when there were many students who washed out.</p>

<p>Some people may have overstated the nursing shortage. However, I believe you will find that people who did well at a quality nursing school can find jobs. You may find the unemployment is higher for students graduating from the bottom of their class or from for-profit diploma mills.</p>

<p>A person should not expect to land their ideal job in their ideal city immediately after college. Sometimes a person needs to move to a place where there is more demand until they get experience.</p>

<p>Long-term, the aging of the population and the implementation of Obamacare will increase demand for nurses. Some of the biggest increases in the country’s population will be in persons age 75 and older. Many health care systems were temporarily delaying investments over the last 2 years because they didn’t know if Obamacare would survive the court challenges or the national elections. </p>

<p>Also, as the economy improves, many older nurses will retire. Many unhappily delayed their own retirement because they were supporting other family members.</p>

<p>One way of career planning is to search a site like monster.com and look for how many openings are available for alternative fields. You can also see the qualifications that are sought for actual jobs. I just did a search for full-time RNs with a bachelors degree and one year or less experience, and 608 job listings showed up. Some listings included multiple openings.</p>

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<p>Hi Brielle! </p>

<p>You have identified a topic that some of us have been trying to get out of the stranglehold of an interconnected web of professional associations, academics, think tanks and college faculty that actively quashed the truth for at least 3 years and ignored the plight of thousands of new grads.</p>

<p>They are now unable to plug the dyke at this point, but have shifted strategy to alarmist predictions that while plausible, are based on speculation. They are:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>That droves of retired and inactive nurses returned to work during the 2008 financial crisis and soon they will leave again leaving a giant void. </p></li>
<li><p>Millions of people will flood the system due to the enacting of the ACA (Obamacare) and we will need millions of nurses to deal with it.</p></li>
<li><p>The giant Baby Boomer generation is set to become old and infirm very soon and we will need even more nurses.</p></li>
<li><p>(might not be speculation as it involves a quantifiable number)The average age of nurses is rising by the day! I read a few months ago it was 43 yrs, then it was 46 years, now I guess we’re at 50?</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Here are a few things to consider when doing research- never rely on just one non-objective source of information. Be skeptical of all hot-button words like crisis, catastrophe, disaster and grossly inflated numbers resulting in droves, stampedes, mass exodus, etc Ask if they included the burgeoning online degree programs in their analysis. Have they considered the trend of hiring UAP (unlicensed assistive personnel) in their conclusions. Bear in mind that a classified ad doesn’t mean there is an actual job behind it, so it isn’t a good way to evaluate the job market.</p>

<p>Big changes actually take years to materialize, and we have been front-loading the system for long enough that it’s having an impact. Those groups I mentioned are now advising new grads to take on more debt based on a speculative position. If they were all that worried about a shortage they would focus on bridge programs for associate degree nurses. As to the “more qualified students than seats” – isn’t that true of most admission programs for any occupation? I leave you with a quote from the scientist most often used to buttress the looming crisis storyline, Peter Buerhaus in the December 2011 issue of Health Affairs.</p>

<p>“Between 2002 and 2009, however, the number of full-time-equivalent registered nurses ages 23–26 increased by 62 percent. If these young nurses follow the same life-cycle employment patterns as those who preceded them—as they appear to be thus far—then they will be the largest cohort of registered nurses ever observed.”</p>

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<p>Technology may put many out of all types of jobs or jobs may be outsourced to other countries. Nursing is a hands on profession and they cant outsource patients, so there will still be jobs here for some time. The above posters both make many valid, interesting points concerning nursing. There is certainly great speculation about nursing, as there is for many other fields. If you are not really passionate about nursing and would rather not risk not being able to find a job, then I would jump ship too. Just make sure the ship you are jumping on has life rafts as well, or you could be in cold water anyway.</p>

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<p>Outsourcing of all service jobs isn’t possible, but it doesn’t mean you are guaranteed a job. If you educate more nurses (teachers, waiters, doctors, police officers) than there are employers willing to hire them and for many there are no jobs here right now. </p>

<p>According to a recent series on CNN, 36% of new grads were still searching 4 months after graduation, 43% of California new grads were unemployed after 18 months of searching. According to a survey conducted by nursingdegree.org, 62% of new grads were unemployed after a year of searching.</p>

<p>The erosion in demand will occur by hiring fewer RNs supervising a group of unlicensed assistive personnel who are trained and tasked with the lower-risk procedures such as monitor techs, certified medication assistants, patient care technicians and tiering the CNA jobs based on specialized training in specific areas such as phlebotomy and obtaining rhythm strips for the RN. </p>

<p>That said, I wouldn’t encourage anyone to abandon their heartfelt dreams of being a nurse if that’s all you see yourself doing. Just get an accurate view of the field and plan accordingly. There are steps to take as a student you can take to maximize your individual results! Best wishes to all current and future nursing students! :)</p>

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<p>In any case, it is too hard job for someone to do, if they are only studying it to have job security.</p>

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<p>^^^ I agree. Nursing is not easy and if you don’t have a passion for it then you either won’t make it through the BSN program or will be unhappy later when you finally become employed. </p>

<p>BTW - I believe certain parts of the USA still have nursing shortages. Ran into some nursing recruiters from Texas less than a year ago in Pittsburgh for a convention and they were pleading for nurses. Guess nursing is like many other professions; sometimes you need to go where the jobs are and at least get some experience.</p>

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<p>Yes, there are many regional variations in demand. Again, look at Monster.com as an example or ads in a nursing magazine. You will see some hospitals with huge display ads seeking many nurses, in some regions of the country. </p>

<p>Part of the issue involves the great variations in the number of nursing graduates in different states. Historically, that was also true with school teachers - some states produced a huge surplus of people with education degrees from colleges that specialized in education, but states with a shortage of well-qualified teachers went there to recruit.</p>

<p>That is one of the great things about a nursing degree - you can be mobile. If your spouse needs to move to find a good job in their field, there is a high likelihood you can find a job in that city.</p>

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<p>I guess none of us are psychics. All we can do is speculate. I don’t care about the money - it isn’t exactly fantastic compared to other careers - but job security was something I looked forward to.</p>

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<p>Very interesting interview show on WNYC (NPR station) this afternoon:
[The</a> Leonard Lopate Show: Please Explain: Nursing - WNYC](<a href=“http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/2013/feb/15/please-explain-nursing/]The”>http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/2013/feb/15/please-explain-nursing/)</p>

<p>Audio should be available soon. The latter portion of the segment discussed employment opportunities.</p>

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<p>One of the reasons nursing school has to limit student number is because in order to teach a nurse must have a Master in Nursing. They cannot have a masters in another related field such as Health Services administration or Public Health which limits the availability of instructors. So the demand may be there but there are not enough resources to teach.</p>

<p>When I was a young nurse, hospitals did not limit new grads as much as today. In fact they had special orientation programs to get new nurses started. Due to cost of care, I imagine the money to support this type of on the job training no longer exists.</p>

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<p>The 2005-2009 group of nurses is the largest in recorded history.</p>

<p>If you choose to use classified ads as accurate reflection of first job opportunities for new grads, check those ads again in 4-6 weeks and see if there is any change there. </p>

<p>Just as Lakemom mentioned, it’s expensive for them to put a new nurse through orientation and many hiring managers complain about those who resign shortly after they are on their own and head for greener pastures. Here is a really informative news article by CNN Money reporter Annalynn Kurtz.</p>

<p>[For</a> nursing jobs, new grads need not apply - Jan. 14, 2013](<a href=“http://money.cnn.com/2013/01/14/news/economy/nursing-jobs-new-grads/index.html]For”>For nursing jobs, new grads need not apply)</p>

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<p>Penn has a great list of hospitals that still have these types of programs:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/nursing/nurseresidency.pdf[/url]”>http://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/nursing/nurseresidency.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Thanks for sharing ShanghaiMom! The versatility of nursing as well as the need for healthcare for an aging population still makes nursing an attractive field. Humans will always need care.</p>

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<p>Grazie ShanghaiMom. UCD Med Center is an amazing place.</p>

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<p>OP, how did you know you were good at nursing if you haven’t even started the program?</p>

<p>I don’t think the nursing shortage was hoax , there was indeed a shortage however since the financial crisis older nurses cannot retire or they went back to work. It’s easier for the hospital to hire a person who has been working for 30+ years versus a new grad.</p>

<p>It all comes down to the economy, really there are over 900,000 nurses who technically should have retired but couldn’t. Once they do there will be jobs. It’s just a cruddy time to be a new grad all around.</p>

<p>And also, like some people have said, the nursing shortage is still prevalent in areas of the countrie. Many rural areas need nurses…</p>

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It is important for every single person who is considering a career in nursing to read these comments and pay close attention. It is my well researched experience and opinion, through 15 years in this god awful field that I am compelled to share the truth.

There has been a long term planned and pre-meditated hoax to fool people into thinking that there is, was, and is going to be a nursing shortage. I was one of those unfortunate people who was conned by the team efforts of local colleges, media classified ads, news stories, magazine articles, local hospitals and nursing homes, recruiters, job boards on the internet, etc, who have all despicably participated in this magnificient bogus scheme to create a shortage of nurses through fiction without any fact at all.

The truth is that there never was a shortage to begin with. The hoaxes were able to be considered by many, because the hospitals and nursing homes were all perpetuating this fraud on society by offering multi-thousand dollar sign on bonus programs, inflated pay rates with $5 and $10 differentials for nights and weekends, etc…

The schemes and lies became known to me when I fell for every one of them. Sign on bonuses were only payable after 6 months. Inflated pay programs disappeared within weeks of being hired. Hospitals and nursing homes hired and fired people almost daily, before the ink was even dry on the applications.

With the market completely and utterly clogged and saturated with nurses, you now have a pool of several hundred, and possibly several thousand applicants for each job. The jobs have now morphed from full time with benefits to per diem, low paying, no benefit jobs that come and go like toilet water in a fast food bathroom.

In addition to these sad facts, the surplus of nurses has caused a downward spiral of acceptable pay rates. Anything outside of acute care has become almost minimum wage. “Techs” are replacing nurses left and right, LPNs must perform RN work, and RNs are forced to act as Supervisor, med/treatment nurse, unit clerk, CNA and receptionist all at the same time. No matter how hard you work, someone has a complaint, and you are kicked out the door without the batting of an eye. They can do this to avoid paying benefits, and to continue their habit of finding someone who will work even cheaper.

In 15 years I have endured the worst hell anyone can imagine, still have nursing school loans, and will be filing for bankruptcy within the next few months. If you care about your metal and physical well being, never consider nursing as a career, ever! I have had interviews on occasion that were brazen and humiliating at the same time. Every employer has the upper hand and will use it to literally erase your qualifications, under the guise (and hoax) of “too many short term jobs” , “nursing experience not recent enough,” “You need three years minimum on a med/ surg unit”, “your last job was less than 1 year” and the list goes on and on and on. Its demoralizing and pathetic. At this point I’d rather work a cash register at Sears than endure even one more day of this garbage.

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I’m sorry you are having bad experiences.

However, in ANY field, employers may react negatively to any applicant who appears to have not stayed in jobs for longer periods of time. All employers want to see a pattern where one person will stay with an employer for a number of years.

Yes, RNs are having to take on larger roles in managing less experienced staff. That was the pattern for years in the armed services.

Also, the market for RNs apparently varies greatly between different areas of the country. That has always been the case - I can remember reading my sister’s nursing magazines 25 years ago when they were filled with ads from hospitals in rapidly growing parts of the US.

One factor is how many nursing school grads are produced in a state. Another factor is whether a state has agreed to participate in the expansion of federal Medicaid, which can generate thousands of jobs because there is less uncompensated care. Also, when increased numbers of residents gain medical insurance, they come in to have many health problems treated that they had delayed in having addressed because of financial reasons. As a result, there is more business for local health care providers and more need for RNs.

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http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/registered-nurses.htm

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that over 500,000 additional RNs will be needed over the next decade. They said the unemployment rate for RNs averages 2%. Based upon their data, US News reported that RNs and NPs are two of the 10 best jobs in the US for the future, along with physical therapists, MDs and dentists.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/best-jobs-2015-120000200.html

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If you go on Monster.com, you can find over 1,000 RN positions currently available in several states (such as Florida and Texas), and over 500 RN positions available in several other states (such as Georgia).