Nursing Shortage
There is no secret that there is a shortage of nurses these days. Why now, one may ask?
There are so many reports on this issue. The issue is very complex, but we can share with you some very interesting comments from a report prepared by The American Association of Colleges of Nursing.
Recently, they published a report they called a “Nurses Fact Sheet.” In it, they said:
• 55% of recently surveyed nurses said they plan to retire between 2011 and 2020 – that’s four to 13 years from now.
• It is projected that the nation’s nursing shortage will grow to over one million nurses by the year 2020.
• right now, hospitals need approximately 118,000 RNs to fill currently vacant positions.
• When they surveyed hospital CEOs, 85% listed having a shortage of nurses as their number one issue.
Why the shortage?
A lot of people think today’s younger generation does not want to become nurses because it’s hard, dirty work.
They don’t want to work nights and weekends.
They don’t want to deal with bed pans, vomit … and diseases that threaten their own lives – like Hepatitis and HIV.
They don’t want to deal with hospitalized people who are sicker than ever before …
Truly … if you’re in the hospital … you are REALLY sick – Most people are in and out of the hospital within a day or two. You do your recovery at home!
So nurses primarily care only for the very very ill.
It takes its toll mentally and physically …
That’s why most people think there are fewer nurses today … that’s what most people think anyway.
You’d think so … but it isn’t true.
It isn’t because there’s a shortage of men and women interested in becoming nurses …
The shortage is because there simply is not enough nursing faculty and nursing facilities to train the future nurses of America.
Every semester hundreds of potential nursing students are turned away from nursing schools because there is no room for them in the programs.
In 2005, for example, nearly 42,000 qualified applicants for bachelor and graduate degree nursing programs were turned away due to insufficient faculty, clinical sites, classroom space and budget constraints.
In one report, 409 applicants applied for 60 slots in a day time community college program. At the same college, 185 students applied for 20 additional slots provided for by night and weekend programs. That’s just one example … it’s going on like that all over the country.
You may ask … what is causing the trend for nursing faculty to leave teaching and migrate back into hospital work?
What could it be??? It’s money of course. Money and many of other hiring perks.
Nurses simply makes more money NURSING than they do TEACHING.
And it’s very difficult for colleges and universities to recruit PhD and Masters level nurses when they can’t compete financially. After all … Which job would you choose … one where you could make $55K per year … or one where you could make $88K to over $100K per year. That’s what MS and PhD level nurses are making in hospital and occupational environments.
So …What does this all mean?
• It means the average age of the working RN is climbing.
• It means that with baby boomers reaching their 60s and beyond, more nurses will be needed to care for our aging population – and they won’t be there.
• It means job burnout and dissatisfaction are driving the nurses we do have to leave the profession – they are tired of too many hours and not enough nurses to give them a break.
• The bottom line is … it means access to hospitals will be diminished – we’re seeing that now.
It means Emergency Room overcrowding, and ambulance diversions,
It means the need to close beds – which severely impacts the hospital’s bottom line.
One report even said that the shortage of nurses is a leading cause of medical errors.
It went so far as to state that patients in hospitals with high nurse to patient ratios have an up to 31% increased chance of dying.
That’s the bad news …
The good news is there is an incredible awareness of these problems.
Instead of shivering in a corner awaiting impending doom … people from all corners of our great nation are getting together to address the issue and to come up with concrete ways to overcome the problems at hand.These people are nurses and nursing organizations … private business and insurance providers … colleges and universities … state and federal legislatures …and yes, even philanthropic organizations.
These people are putting their heads together to come up with solutions. They know that solutions will not be as easy as providing scholarships to wanna-be nursing students.
On just about every level, there are efforts out there to recruit and retain nursing educators.
One effort is in encouraging nurses to return to school … earn graduate degrees … and then teach the next generation of nurses.
Some motivators are offers of tuition reimbursement for those who become teachers.
Grants are available to help educate, hire, retain and support the transition into a faculty role.
Other efforts are to expand and equip more training facilities.
By working together … the goal is to quadruple to number of nursing school graduates. It’s an ambitious goal but with all working together we all feel confident that goal will be reached.
