What Nursing Shortage

[OldSquidNewNurse]

Take a look at this Medscape Blog about the trouble of new grads finding work.

http://boards.medscape.com/forums?128@@.29ef07a2!comment=1

“I am still looking with disbelief at the email generated from nursing recruitment from a Magnet hospital close to me. I had contacted them recently for nursing employment. I was told in a recent phone conversation that their next new grad registered nurse program would be some 8 months in the future, and that the program was currently closed until then. The recruiter stated that over “700 new grad nurses had applied for only 6 available new nursing positions.” What became of the 694 nursing students that didn’t get accepted? After contacting a national hospital chain, I heard the same story -- a total of 4 new grads were hired from a pool of 500 applicants. What became of the other 496 qualified graduate nurses? Another hospital several towns from me is currently accepting applicants for their new grad program. I asked their nurse recruiter about how many applicants had she received for their 4 openings. She stated that she had received “at least 150 new grad applications for just one med-surg position.”



The nursing recruiters I spoke to reveal a bias against hiring new grads because “they cost us too much money to train when they don’t stay.” According to the Magnet nursing recruiter, to be considered as an “experienced nurse,” one must have worked for pay a minimum of 6 months as a registered nurse. This is an arbitrary rule which effectively stymies the abundant flow of new nurse grads that are willing and able to work now. In addition, I was told flatly that by nurse recruiting that “clinical hours do not count” and that “only paid nursing time counts.” If the new grad’s clinicals are worthless to the hospital, why bother mandating them at all? Apart from this nurse recruiter’s comments being highly uninformed, they speak to a deep ignorance on the part of management as to the actual true value of the new grad’s education.”

[cougarnurse]

And how do they get the training, if no-one will hire them? Again, another Catch-22.

Then again, how many may turn up their nose at LTC? THAT is a booming industry, what with the greying of America. I know the pay isn't what they would make in a hospital, but still....something is better than nothing?!

[Last Nurse Standing]

It is rather distressing to here these stories coming from almost every corner of the country. When I was a new grad, there was no problem getting a job. Over the last two years that has completely changed, but then I wouldn't know, because I had a job and wasn't looking.

Someone needs to tell the people out there to stop going to nursing school. It's not a booming industry anymore. LTC, perhaps. But it won't take long for those to dry up as well, and let's face it, you don't need a bunch of RNs on a LTC floor. You need a few and several LPNs and lots of techs.

Actually, I'd like to leave ICU and work in LTC. But that's another story.

[cougarnurse]

I worked in LTC as an LPN, and the facility worked with me while I got my RN. I stayed around about 3 more years (but that's a whole different story...NOT nice, either!).

The way I see it, people are living longer, and are still pretty sick. Assisted living is great, but there comes a time when LTC is the option.

We are also still looking at a greying nursing population. True, the economy is dictating we work longer, but still......

[nursinghumor]

When I was a new graduate in the 90's I worked nights, weekends, whatever shift was available to find work.

Think new graduates, if they were more flexible, willing to try other areas would be able to find work till what they desired was available.

We do have a nursing shortage, and it is just a matter of time before the recession is over, beds start to fill up again, and hospitals will be begging for nurses again (new graduate and experienced).

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

[OldSquidNewNurse]

BUSINESS JOURNAL REPORT ON WZZM NEWS


McCurren
Available nursing jobs shrink in 2009
Elizabeth Slowik
After years of begging for applicants, nursing jobs this year have become tougher to find.

Nursing leaders in West Michigan blame the economy for causing employers to pull back on hiring, leaving new nursing school graduates with fewer choices and experienced nurses lining up for work.

“I don’t know that it’s unique to West Michigan,” said Shawn Ulreich, chief nursing executive at Spectrum Health and chair-elect of the West Michigan Nursing Council. “Across the country, demand is down a little bit.”

Grand Valley State University’s Cynthia McCurren, dean of the Kirkhof College of Nursing, said she had no information about the number of GVSU nursing graduates with jobs this spring.

At the University of Detroit Mercy’s McAuley School of Nursing at Aquinas College, Chair Robi Thomas said about half of this year’s graduates have jobs and the rest were still in the interview process.

“The difference our seniors are finding is they don’t have multiple job offers and they don’t get to pick the shift they want to work on,” Thomas said. “The difference is they aren’t getting five or six job offers.”

Experienced nurses are still needed, but hospitals and doctors’ groups just aren’t busy enough to hire as many as last year, added Charlie Ferro, president and owner of Diversified Medical Staffing, a company he moved to Grand Rapids last year to take advantage of the burgeoning health care sector here.

Ferro said consumers are cutting back on health care and that has softened demand for nurses.

“Most of the state is down,” said Ferro, who supplies health care personnel across Michigan and into northern Ohio. “People are not having scheduled surgeries. People are under insured or not insured, and they’re not going to the doctor, they’re not having things done. We have a surplus of staff right now to place in hospitals.”

Hospital job growth slid nationwide in the first quarter of 2009, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Hospitals created less than 6,200 new jobs during the first quarter of 2009, compared to 32,500 in the first quarter of 2008, according to the BLS.

According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, nurses who had retired were forced back into the workplace because of the poor economy, and some who had been expected to retire are keeping their jobs instead.

At Saint Mary’s Health Care, human resources leaders are trying to prop open the pipeline of talent at the same time that hiring is being trimmed to match patient volumes, Vice President Micki Benz said.

“We did have a new grad day last Friday. Twenty-four new nursing grads met with our clinical people and talked about what openings there might be. We’re not sure what we’re going to have, but probably not as many as last year,” she said.

Grand Rapids Community College Director of Nursing Programs Margaret Bowles said she is urging her students to be flexible.

“We’re trying to encourage patience and flexibility,” she said of the 199 R.N. students.

One set graduated in February and another group will graduate this summer. The new nurses are finding that they may not be able to pick shifts or specialties, and acute care settings may not be hiring at all, Bowles said. But plenty of opportunities exist outside of hospitals, such as home health care or long-term care, she said.

About one-third of Michigan nurses are closing in on retirement age, Bowles said, and some of them are hanging on to their jobs because a spouse has lost a job or retirement savings have taken a hit. But the potential for openings in the future makes nursing still a good long-range bet for job-seekers.

In a normal year, Spectrum Health hires 150 to 200 nurses, Ulreich said, including replacements and new positions.

“I think it’s a blip, I really do,” she said of the current downturn in hiring. “I think the economy is driving this to a pretty significant degree.”

Not long ago, the nursing shortage was on center stage, and Ulreich said the long-term trends are still there: The aging of the nursing work force, waiting lists for nursing schools and the sheer number of baby boomers needing services from hospitals, rehab centers and long-term care facilities. The BLS projected that there will be more than a half-million new nursing jobs created through 2016, the AACN stated.

“Do I think everything has come to a head right now and demand is being met? It’s just not that simple,” Ulreich said. “It’s not that they’ve increased the number of students and now we have this plethora.”

“We’re still going to have a shortage of nurses. Those trends aren’t going to be stopped,” Ferro added. “Hospitals will have their swings when they get busy again. They’ll bring back contract staff to get through the busy times.”

The AACN recommends that new nursing graduates begin their job searches early and consider working in other states or outside of hospital settings. They should be willing to look at work outside the acute care setting and consider graduate school, either to improve patient care or to become educators.

[91B]

I guess things are different in Austin. I had looked the other day, and checked again just now after reading this thread, but between 2 websites, Medhunter and the Austin Statesman job site, there were over 200 nursing jobs listed for Austin and the surrounding metro area.

But Texas hasn't been hit as badly buy the downturn as other parts of the country, so that could be part of it as well.

[OldSquidNewNurse]

I remember seeing a few months ago that Big Oil was still going well (no pun intended), thus all the jobs in the Austin area.

[SoldierNurse]

Originally Posted by 91B

I guess things are different in Austin. I had looked the other day, and checked again just now after reading this thread, but between 2 websites, Medhunter and the Austin Statesman job site, there were over 200 nursing jobs listed for Austin and the surrounding metro area.

But Texas hasn't been hit as badly buy the downturn as other parts of the country, so that could be part of it as well.

Forget the newspaper because the best way to get a nursing job in the Austin area is to see a nurse recruiter at a specific hospital in the Seton or St David's Network... been there & done that.

[nursinghumor]

Originally Posted by healthyheart

Is it all a misconception there is actually excess of them all over.

I beg to differ . . . .

If people were not postponing surgeries out of fear of losing their jobs, we'd be feeling the nursing shortage.

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