What Nursing Shortage???
Posted by isntshelovlei on July 13, 2010
I came across an article today about how even in this “nationwide shortage of nurses,” one of our local nursing schools’ grads can’t find jobs. So let’s have at this so-called nursing shortage thing.
Many people think it’s the economy. The hiring freezes. That nurses are working to later ages—even past retirement. Among other things. And all of those things probably do contribute to the problem. But this is my spin on the situation. I live in the Delaware Valley / Greater Philadelphia area. IMHO (and what do I know anyway?), I don’t believe there is a nursing shortage here. Why? Because this area is just too saturated with nursing schools. Diploma programs, and ADN programs, and BSN programs oh my! There are day programs and there are evening/weekend programs. There are even various accelerated programs (such as Villanova’s BSNExpress, Jefferson’s FACT, and Drexel’s ACE) that are pumping out new nurses as fast as every 11 months!
Now what surprises me most about not a single one of the AMH Dixon SON grads being able to secure a job yet is that the school is part of a hospital. A lot of their students do in fact think that gives them an edge as far as securing a job after graduation—which evidently is not the case. I have noticed job postings on AMH’s website for “Clinical Associates” (tech-type positions) which are only open to their own nursing students—why not initiate something similar for their graduates? One would think they’d be able to hire at least some of their own grad nurses.
Secondly, Abington is a diploma program. Though they have recently partnered with Jefferson to offer an RN-BSN or RN-BSN/MSN option after you’ve completed their program, that really doesn’t help the new grads right now, with their fresh diplomas in hand. And depending on where/what type of setting (hospital, etc.) you’d like to work at as an RN, know that many of the major players (at least in this area) are now moving from a “BSN-preferred” to a ”BSN-required” model. Just food for thought.
Before anyone gets their panties in a twist, please know I am in no way bashing Abington or any of the other diploma or ADN programs—in fact, I almost went to Abington. It’s a great school, the faculty that I’d dealt with were great, and they have stellar NCLEX pass rates—though if it’s anything like my program the bad test-takers and flat-out slackers are weeded out of the program way before you get anywhere near the NCLEX (which is why I never really considered NCLEX pass rates as a determinant of how good a program was). But in the end I decided that it would be best for me to pursue the BSN. Besides the fact that I just couldn’t wrap my head around going to school for 2 years and just getting a diploma when I could go for an extra semester and get a BSN, again, where and what type of position I plan to pursue after graduation requires the latter. That’s just the way the cookie crumbles.
So is there really a nursing shortage? Maybe—in Texas, California, or the Midwest—but not so much here in the city of Brotherly Love…
Patricia Nelson said
Nursing shortages are usually geographically related…I moved from NY, where I had a job right out of school at the hopital where I trained in 1989.
I arrived in San Diego, California to find that they didn’t have a nursing shortage and they wouldn’t even allow me to interview for an ICU position because I had just moved there and didn’t own a home. They told me I could interview after I had established residency for at least a year. I took a position through an agency but found I was canceled frequently.
I was headed back to NY when I stopped in Nevada to visit friends…checked out some hospitals (they only had one surgeon in town performing heart surgery at that time & nurses were still wearing the white caps, I only had worn mine for graduation) – they offered me a postion, paid to relocate me, gave me a sign on bonus & I went right to ICU…so, the need is different in every city/state.
I am a re-entry nurse in AZ right now were jobs are few & far between but, most places are taking experience over new grads, except for the county hospital…they will take new grads before they take experienced re-entry nurses. I will be applying in the next few weeks …I will let you know how it goes.
I love reading your blog!
isntshelovlei said
Definitely keep me posted–and thanks for reading my rantings!
KLS said
There isn’t one in Northern VA either, and it sucks.
janet said
I’m a clinical instructor for two schools in Northern VA & am an ICU nurse at a large hospital in the area. What has helped my students is first I tell them to network while in school. Also your clinical instructor can be a good resource; I’m pretty bold about asking managers and patient care directors if they are hiring. If they are and I have an outstanding student…it is a win-win.
Many new graduates (and this may not be you)- apply for jobs post graduation and wait for the recruiter to call them. As I tell my students…you need to WORK IT! Call the recruiter, find out who the patient care director is by calling that unit and shoot them an email with your resume. Also accept that you may not get that ICU/ER/L&D position but you may get a tele floor or postpartum unit.
The market is easing up around here versus 2010 BUT you must network!
isntshelovlei said
Thanks for your comment–great advice!
I actually work in a NICU and so I get to network on a daily–or nightly since I work nights–basis. I’ve also reached out to the nurse manager on the floor where I’d really LOVE to work. We’ve met and talked; they took me around for a tour and to meet some people; and I was invited to come shadow a nurse (had a GREAT time!). I finish nursing school this December so I’m just trying to get my name and my face (and my interest) out there because we are a big hospital. I think it’s going well.
I also think it’s helpful for students to work as a CNA/tech/unit clerk (on a unit they’d like to work on is even better). This is only a guestimate, but at my hospital, about 90% of the new RN hires already worked here in some type of tech/nursing student capacity.
nurseXY said
Shortage doesn’t equal jobs.
If the hospital doesn’t open the positions, they can’t be filled. Meanwhile the units scramble to staff for patients on hand. They pay overtime, bonus shifts. Just seems to me another regular time person would be cheaper, but what do I know.
isntshelovlei said
So true (but what do we know lol). And safe staffing ratios–is a whole other can of worms that I think I’ll save for another blog…
Susan said
I moved from Chicago to Philadelphia last year, trying to get my first nursing job. I graduated from nursing school in December 2008 and moved out this way to be closer to my boyfriend at the time. I applied to over 150 jobs (that’s after I started counting!) in Philadelphia, New Jersey, and Delaware…I even went as far as to apply in Maryland and Connecticut because I couldn’t find ANYTHING. Five months later, I finally got a job at a small community hospital (I wanted a big city hospital…), and I had to take it because I had nothing else. I knew from the start that this wasn’t the place for me, but at some point, a job is a job. Things are better now that I have a year of a experience, but it’s been a rough year. The funny part is that a lot of the city hospital are now telling me that they don’t feel I can “handle their acuity” coming from such a small hospital…yet they hire new grads. Drives me crazy!
I know in Boston, they tell their nursing students not to even bother trying to get a job in city…how sad.
isntshelovlei said
150 jobs?!? Wow, that’s crazy, but I totally believe you.
I currently work at a big city hospital (but in a non-clinical capacity), but am already open to relocating if need be after I’m done my nursing program next December. I always dreamed of working here as a nurse and I figured it would be easier to get in beforehand and just transfer to an RN position once I graduate (and have the advantage of being an internal candidate), rather than apply with the masses. The way things are looking, I’m not so sure that will even be the case. I’ve been applying for tech-type jobs (I have a Medical Assistant background in addition to my nursing clinical experience) trying to transfer within the institution for over a year now with no success. I feel that everyone sees me as a retention risk the closer I get to the end of my program, but I think it would be great to work as a tech on a unit where I may even be able to stay as a nurse! Go figure…
Wanderer said
Our hospital system just mass interviewed 500 new grads for a pitiful number of positions. Portland, Oregon is not a place to go if you’re new grad looking for a nursing job… Totally saturated market combined with a hiring freeze pretty much everywhere = no jobs. Sucks.
isntshelovlei said
Wow. Thanks for letting us know how things are over in the Northwest!
Chris [The Man-Nurse Diaries] said
I think, as I said in the post I just wrote about this, that the shortage still exists, or at least is impending. I think hospitals just aren’t hiring and are making do. Also many nurses are delaying retirement, coming out of retirement, working more hours, or going back to work and forgoing being stay-at-home moms. When the boomers retire and when the economy improves, these positions are going to be vacated. If you look at the American Association of Colleges of Nursing statistics, they seem to bear this out.
Hospitals typically represent nursing as their largest business expense (and it generally is), so that’s where they cut. They feel they need new 64-slice CT scanners, and can make do with the minimum number of nurses to be safe.
Bonnie Kavanagh RN, Geriatric Care Manager said
Not so much a nursing shortage but a shortage of attractive nursing jobs…
BonnieRN
isntshelovlei said
True… And I know a lot of students have their hearts set on certain places/hospitals, certain departments/specialties, and even certain schedules…but we may have to “settle” for something a little different…a job is still better than no job–especially once we have to start paying back our loans!
joni89 said
I can see this being true for some of my classmates who are currently on the job hunt – many of them strictly wanting specialties like ICU cause they want to goto CRNA school or peds cause that is just simply what they want to do.
But for the couple us (myself included) that are willing to take anything we can get, we are definitely having trouble with even the less attractive ones. I myself am from the Philly region and have applied left and right. Now, my definition of less attractive would be facilities like long term care and nursing homes, not because care is below standard, but because the status quo doesn’t want to be there. But even they don’t want new grads. It seems the phrase “at least 1 year of experience required” is automatically attached to every position that is posted. I’ve looked to Jersey, Central PA, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and DC. I’m not even gonna start looking at NYC cause that is probably one of the most saturated cities on the east coast. On Monday, I’ll start looking more west toward Erie and Pittsburgh. Hope there is some luck out there, but I bet UPMC is churning out just as many nurses.
At the moment, I’m clearly willing to “settle” but still no luck. I hear some cant even get CNA jobs cause they are ‘overqualified’. Talk about barriers from every direction.
isntshelovlei said
Thanks for sharing!!–it’s nice to hear from a local actually in the thick of it all…
So…this is my problem with “settling…” After I finish my BSN, I plan to go for my master’s. All of the programs I’m currently looking at require 1-2 years of work experience in the MSN program field/specialty. If I’m “forced” to work in some other field, the experience I’ll be getting there will kinda be…for nothing. And while I’ll gladly accept that job offer–because after all I DO need a job–I’ll still be job-hunting for the one I really want. I think this is a concern of some of the employers as well. Say they hire these new grads, with their student loans that they now have to pay, who are willing to take just about ANY job at this point…they train them (which costs money), get them a year of experience under their belts…now they’ve just made them a better candidate for the next job–the one they really want…and the not-a-new-grad-anymore nurse leaves that employer that was willing to take a chance on them. And so now employers hesitate to hire new grads…
So I’ve tried to do things to make it a little “easier” for me to secure the job I want after I graduate: I’m getting my BSN…I actually work in the hospital that I’ve dreamed about working in as a nurse (in a non-clinical capacity)…AND I even volunteer on a unit where I’d love to work. I’m a shoo-in right?–so I hope.
Good luck with your search!
Sent from my iPhone 4
jon brierton said
So interesting to read “new grad” comments.
After 33 years as an RN (bedside practice) it gives me pause…
In “those days” nursing was an avocation, not a vocation.
Now, for reasons of economics, “we” wonder about our choices.
Would that I had chosen Diesel Mechanic, PhD. as my vocation.
Did I mention, I’m “tired” of it all?
Best of luck, y’all. You’ll need it !
Old Nurse
NYBlues said
I’m a new grad in New York. I can’t find anything. Forget a shortage of just “attractive” nursing jobs. Two nursing home told me they are not hiring new grads right now. The others said they would get back with no response for weeks. I’ve wanted to do this since I was in 2nd grade! It has nothing to do with money or security for me. It’s not like I’m locked into one thing looking at only specialties and hospitals, etc… I’m still working as a nursing assistant and I love what I do! I would just love to finally work as a nurse too…
hesi test said
Thank you for the wonderful post. I like the way you have explained about importance of nursing. i agree with all you views. Keep writing such awesome post.
Caitlin said
It’s the same even in the deep south. Here in Mobile, Alabama, we’ve got NOTHING in the way of employment for new grads, and we have 4 hospitals. We are so saturated with nursing programs that 500+ applications are received for every position…
james said
i can vouch for that – mobile alabama market sucks – i am so sick of nursing anyway – im going back to school to be a truck driver – paper is full of job ads – and less stress!
Mike said
In Pittsburgh, Pa I wouldn’t consider it a nursing shortage but there seems to always be plenty of vacancies. The market here is much different from my native Philadelphia because the most attractive jobs, in the city hospitals, are only run by two health systems. Like Philadelphia there is a saturation of diploma/associate’s schools with multiple community college branches in the same county having nursing programs that really churn out students. Good/bad for those looking for jobs it seems that many of the BSN grads don’t stick around long and many of the Diploma/AD grads either move out of the city into the regional hospitals or leave the profession..very high turnover rate out this way. Same goes though, heard several supervisors comment that if someone is unhappy with their job that they can have an opening posted and receive 25 applications by the end of the same day