[nursinghumor]

November 17, 2004: Tennessee: Tide of new nurses rises but shortages still loom large:"The number of registered nurses entering the job market appears to be on a steady incline, with a total employment growth of over 200,000 R.N.'s since 2001, the largest increase since the early 1980's, but experts at the School of Nursing say it's still not enough to prevent a long-term crisis that threatens to cripple the entire health care system."
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releas...-ton111504.php

It's encouraging to hear that the number of graduates is on the rise. Will it be enough to head off a crisis? Time will tell. A lot more needs to be done.

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

[udali]

It seems that the number of nurses entering the job market is always on the rise. The trick is keeping in the nursing field.

[nursinghumor]

One in five new nurses surveyed plan on leaving the field within five years. So yes, we're losing a lot of new nurses. Could it be because we're still eating our young?

http://www.nursefriendly.com/young

Currently, more nurses are being graduated than ever before from our schools. It's expected that will continue to keep pace till bout 2012. Then two things will happen.

1. A crushing load of babyboomers are expected to hit the hospitals and healthcare system.

2. A large number of nurses will be retiring/leaving the field.

When that happens, all gains we've made to that point will be effectively wiped out and we'll find out what it really means to have a nursing shortage.

Andrew Lopez, RN
http://www.4nursing.com

[Randy, RN]

In many ways, good for nurses, but bad for gen. pop.

[nursinghumor]

In many ways, bad for everyone Randy.

There will be a ton of patients to be cared for, not enough nurses. We'll be stretched to the limit, chronically short-staffed, forced to do mandatory overtime, burning out, turning to drug/substance abuse, leaving the field and many more patients will die needlessly because we won't have the time to catch things that we normally do.

In a shortage situation the Great Pay, Sign-on bonuses, etc are nice, but I'd rather keep the same pay and have sane working conditions, less burn-out and safe patients.

Andrew Lopez, RN
http://www.4nursing.com

[1mg.epi]

There seems to be a need for a delicate balance. First is to keep a need for nurses. this gives us bargaining power. But we do not need a shortage that creates a burn out of nurses crating a dangerous situation.

Where I work we have the best retention rate of all hospitals in the area. It has less to do with bonuses and more to do with respect.