Nurses affected by sick economy

[suebird3]

Nurses not immune to sick economy :: Herald News :: Business

After graduating at the top of her nursing school class at Elmhurst College in May, Talia Simon figured she wouldn't have any trouble finding a job -- certainly not during a years-long, nationwide nursing shortage.

But the Oak Park woman says she hasn't been able to find work at any of the Chicago area medical centers she has applied to. And she has been hearing the same thing from many of her former classmates.

"In last year's class, most of the people had jobs lined up before they graduated," says Simon. "This year, it's five or six people out of a class of 52. It's really a shock to us that it's such a challenge to get in on the ground floor."

Nursing has long been seen as largely immune to economic ups-and-downs.
But with the current recession, "We are definitely seeing a decrease in openings for new grads," says Vicki Keough, acting dean of Loyola University Chicago's Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing.

And it's not just in Chicago. Fay Raines, president of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, says the group hasn't done any surveys to measure the impact of the economy on nurse hiring, but she has been hearing reports from around the country that this year's nursing school graduates have had a tougher time finding jobs than usual -- especially those in larger cities.

Her group and others are urging nursing students to starting looking for work earlier and to consider taking a job in a smaller town, if necessary.

The recession's impact on nursing has come in the form of a one-two punch, says Sharon Canariato, of the Illinois Nurses Association. Canariato notes that many older nurses have put off retirement or returned to the field, while others who previously worked part-time have shifted to full-time to help their family finances.

At the same time, hospitals have slowed their hiring of new nurses. And some, like Loyola University Health System, have had layoffs.

"For a few months, we did not hire nurses here. That's almost unheard of," says Keough, adding that Loyola is now once again hiring.

It's now in the process of hiring 40 new nurses.

All of this comes at a time when nursing school enrollment is growing at many schools, including the University of Illinois at Chicago and Rush University College of Nursing.

The current job crunch for nursing school graduates will likely ease once the economy stabilizes, says Rush's Lisa Rosenberg.

"What we have now is a temporary situation," says Rosenberg, Rush's director of academic advancement. "Nurses are never out of a job. Their services are always required."

Says Raines: "I think we will find the job situation turning around very quickly."

The larger problem facing the health-care industry, experts say, is that projections show there won't be enough new nurses to replace those who retire in the next decade or so, while demand for their services will keep growing as the population ages.

A report from the Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council last year estimated that the Chicago area will need 3,000 new nurses a year through 2014, but it projected that only half that number will join the work force each year.

"We have been in a nursing shortage, and, really, we still are," says Rosenberg. "It's just been masked a little bit by the downturn."

[nursinghumor]

Have to wonder how long this recession will run, and how long it will take consumer confidence to return.

Who can afford to take time/pay off from work for an elective operation that isn't urgently needed? Where I'm working now patients are usually knee/hip replacements, back surgeries. Census has been down for quite a while.

Have a feeling it will be a while before hospitals and other facilities see their census rise and start feeling the nursing shortage "pinch" again.

Andrew Lopez, RN
http://www.nursefriendly.com