US is experiencing with a more severe shortage of registered nurses in certain areas. It is all because of the growing population and a third of the aging nurses is preparing to retire and there are not enough nurses to replace them. Resources says that there will be a shortage of 213,500 registered nurses in 2010 in US.

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Stellathomas
Social Media Marketing

Do you have a question?
What is your opinion on this?

Should they be opening more places for students in nursing schools? There have been a number of posts from pre-nursing students who have been trying to get into nursing schools for years. Without knowing the reason for initially turning them away, should more places be available or pre-reqs included in the course?

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'Think not of yourself as the architect of your career but as the sculptor. Expect to have to do a lot of hard hammering and chiselingand scraping and polishing. - BC Forbes'

I think this is a valuable thread (although the way it is started is odd to say the least - and mau be related to the advert below, though I reserve judgement).

Across the world there is a shortage of nurses, a lack of young people who want to join the profession and stay at the bedside but at the same time it is increasingly difficult to get into nursing schools and in many places the drop out rates are high. It would be great to get some debate going on this issue.

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Julie
http://www.lifeinthenhs.wordpress.com

I think it has a lot to do with the perceived notion that nurses are the ones who 'receive' orders versus give them...

Back in the day when I first went to university I wanted to be an MD. I dismissed nursing because I thought I would have to "take orders" all the time. Now that I'm a nurse I realize the opportunities for independent practice, as well the inherent responsibility nurses have for education/health promotion/illness treatment and much more.

As a former pre-med, I highly recommend that nursing recruiters focus on the people who are interested in medicine but don't realize that they can 'help people' (the most common reason why people say they want to be a doc) through nursing. There are 2 year degree nursing schools popping up all the time (in Ontario, Canada) for exactly that reason, people going to university for pre-med and changing their minds 2-3 years in.

Thoughts?

Elaine
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http://miss-elaine-ious.blogspot.com/

Bedside Nursing was taken away because of:

• RN's moving out from hospital to the field. Rationale: one-to-one ratio, good pay, less strenuous.
• Travel Nursing: Lucrative pay and incentives, paid travel and accomodation.
• Career Advancement: NP, Nurse Anesthetist, Masteral Degree, Doctorates, Administrative Positions, Informaticist and other upgrades.
• Experienced RN retiring early. Rationale: Burn out from (physical, mental and emotional exhaustion), Mandatory Overtime, Too much occupational hazard, Work Related Injury/sickness, high acuity and ratio.

Solutions;

• Implement appropriate Nurse-Patient ratio all across US.
• Encouraged semi-retired RN's to come back to workforce (provide re-entry training program)
• Hire the newly graduates and provide adequate mentoring/training program

Will this solve the crisis?

Probably not, but it's certainly is the most immediately available resource, the easiest, most affordable and more realistic approach to cover the shortage while attempts are made to improve the number of Faculties to admit, educate and train more nursing students.

Most hospitals are investing thousands on sign on bonus to attract experience Nurses...for what?

To encourage them to jump out from one hospital and move to a better paying hospital?

That's not a fix!

If a hospital can afford a sign on bonus of 10-14K per RN...why not spend that money on re-entry training and newly graduate mentoring program.

Add more funds for additional RN's to meet the appropriate Nurse-Patient ratio.

California implemented 1:4. Skeptics says it will create more shortage. Truth is..more Nurses move to California for that reason. Now their vacancy rate is lower than most states.

They think that RN's can be lured by bigger pay and bonuses...it certainly attracts but not enough to make them stay when their physically and mentally beaten day-in and day-out.

Most of us want to work for the money, but if we can only work for short term and end up disable for longer term due to occupational hazards involve...don't know about you but for me---I'd rather do somethin' else with a lesser pay.

A quick check on the registry of inactive licenses will provide a clearer picture that there is indeed a large pool of qualified RN's sitting on their license watching the crisis unfold.

Not that they don't care to help...RN's by nature are compassionate and caring...we took that oath didn't we and we were led to believe that it is indeed a noble profession.

But when you've worked 12 hours and get mandated to stay another 4 to take care of 10-12 patients, I think it goes beyond the call of duty.

Shortage Crisis? Mmmmm...

Maybe the Nurses are trying to send a message...we deserve more than just a higher pay!

Just my 2 cents...and more.

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All very excellent points. Burnout is playing a huge role in the nursing shortage. Working short for long hours really does go beyond the call of duty. The problem is complex, and it's going to take a lot of time and MONEY to fix it.

MJ

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Sanity is madness put to good use. George Santayana.

http://nurse-ratcheds.blogspot.com

Good points. We have a lot of nurses who left due to working conditions and leaving to have kids. They are now trying to get them back, however their practice has often lapsed. By offering back to work programs, where the nurse works with a preceptor to return to work. However many of these nurses are in their late 40s and 50s. Although there is no compulsory 'end' to their career, many nurses are leaving at retire.

Our state has nursing ratios (1:4 in public acute), our pay is also governed by a state wide EBA. I believe we are the only state to have this, and in other states they are having problems keeping nurses.

Do we work for love or money? Or do we do it for a mixture of the two? I know that there is a level that I am willing to work at for the salary which is offered. I am willing to work in harder circumstances for more, but there is a level which this stops. There is no point in working yourself to burn-out just for more money.

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'Think not of yourself as the architect of your career but as the sculptor. Expect to have to do a lot of hard hammering and chiselingand scraping and polishing. - BC Forbes'

I served as a preceptor to a nurse who had left the profession to raise her kids. She had a heck of a time jumping through hoops when she wanted to reinstate her nursing license. She had to take some very expensive nursing classes at our local community college, and work for free on my unit for three months. The board of nursing call this time her “practicum.” I called it crazy. And people wonder why nurses are anxious to come back to work once they take time off from the profession.

MJ

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Sanity is madness put to good use. George Santayana.

http://nurse-ratcheds.blogspot.com

I can't comment on the cost, but there was a big promotion for trained nurses to return into the industry. Having worked with them and their preceptors, the preceptors find it frustrating due to deficits in knowledge.

More effort is now being placed in training new nurses, rather than retraining old ones.

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'Think not of yourself as the architect of your career but as the sculptor. Expect to have to do a lot of hard hammering and chiselingand scraping and polishing. - BC Forbes'

Nursing shortages aren't just about a lack of nurses.
(Yes I know what I'm talking about dammit! It just appears I'm stupid)

We cannot fix the nursing shortage by throwing more and more money at it - it would be great - and it would work, in the short term - but the money then comes from somewhere else and the cost would be lose beds; or paramedical staff; or access to best treatments and then all those extra nurses just have to work harder anyhow.

What I believe needs to change is to first recognise nursing (and other health care staff - who can get their own forum) is a global issue and is no different a problem than greenhouse gases and ozone layers.
One significant factor - where I am, they only employ RNs and ENs. They do not like HCAs for some reason. They will not employ them unless they have a suitable qualification; which is commendable - but hardly helps the resource problem especially when accessing suitable courses is difficult.
The issue then with this is we drive hard to recruit more nurses... and they come... from your hospital to mine. So now you have less nurses. So you have to make yourself more attractive.... ad infinitum.
I don't begrudge nurses having this self-propagating circular development - doctors have got away with it for years; negotiating 30 hours a week off for study leave and the rest of the time in private practice.

What we need to do:
1. Make nursing (and other health care) a more attractive outcome - lucrative pensions and retirement benefits. I'd work my arse off if I knew I had nothing to worry about in retirement - regardless of job. Give me a comfortable wage but make it worth me doing in the long run and I'll stay for the long run.
2. Change the way we apply ourselves - and this is happening in many areas, much to the disgust of some doctors who insist nurses should remain at the bedside; bedpan in hand. Nurses need to be more ruthless in their tasking: It's nice to spend the time doing the nursing duties like feeding and making beds while chatting to patients and assisting to toilet - but we need to be able to task others up with this when 'nursing' is not wholly required.
3. Recruit more LPN/EN level staff and stop focussing on RNs. Then provide abridged and easily accessible conversion courses to attain RN at a later date - and recognise that the EN is doing us a favour by upskilling - not us doing them a favour.
4. Subsidise the nurse training in EN and for the conversion to RN. Direct entry RN would be fine to leave as is - ie self funding and at full cost - otherwise too many people would do it cos it's a free/cheap degree and then go somewhere else.
5. Give nurses the recognition that nursing groups make up more than the collective numbers of all other professions in health care combined. Empower nurses to manage the politics and organisation of their ward/clinical area - because they care about their workplace and are patient care driven - which is what patients want.
6. Free espresso.