Do you think there would be less RN students if the economy was better?

I noticed this while talking to a group of people from my class. Many of them are on their second career after it ended around 2007 and up. They then began to work towards entering the RN program as a way to get into a filed that was "recession proof" and that " there would always be a demand". I got the felling that if the recession did not happen then there may be less RN students or at the very least fewer people trying to be an RN student.
Could be some truth to that. For many years nursing was pushed as a good paying job where you only need a 2 year education. People flocked and now we overload and folks in nursing for all kinds of reasons. I guess we will see if the economy ever turns around.

There is some truth to that. There are still some people who think that Nursing is recession-proof and that there is a nursing shortage, and many students come into Nursing school believing this lies and find out the truth when it is too late.

I wouldn't have gone into nursing had the economy not tanked. I graduated with a non-healthcare related bachelor's in 2008 and could not find a job. I worked unpaid for a year to "gain experience" before my family told me to just go into nursing. I had no illusions that nursing was a recession proof job. I knew that finding that first job in nursing would be just as difficult as when I graduated with my bachelor's. However, unlike the other field, where I had zero connections, I had connections in nursing because many in my family are nurses.

That's rough, sorry to hear the first degree didn't pan out. What was it anyway?

1-1.5 years of schooling gets you an associates degree in nursing and its probably one of the higher level associate degree paying jobs out there. I would have to say the economy had lot to do with the saturated nursing profession it is today.

There would be less RN students if the schools didn't make it sooooooo flippin easy to get in. A LOT of schools don't even require General Chemistry. The pre-reqs are filled by "aerobics, english 101, art, walking class, basic psychology for a gen ed, a history class, maybe a nutrition class, oh and the OMG SOOOOOO HARD A&P". Some schools do it right and require the chemistry, organic chem. But some that even require Microbiology...have a watered down version. Major university here in town has Micro 3200. The "Nursing" required micro is Micro 1230......come onnnnnn. Then you hear students whine that nursing school is so hard to get into. Try taking Biochem, Physics, Organic Chem, etc, then get back to me on hard. I've taken those, no sympathy from me.

Absolutely, the crappy economy has pushed a lot of people into nursing.

Quote from kgh31386There would be less RN students if the schools didn't make it sooooooo flippin easy to get in. A LOT of schools don't even require General Chemistry. The pre-reqs are filled by "aerobics, english 101, art, walking class, basic psychology for a gen ed, a history class, maybe a nutrition class, oh and the OMG SOOOOOO HARD A&P". Some schools do it right and require the chemistry, organic chem. But some that even require Microbiology...have a watered down version. Major university here in town has Micro 3200. The "Nursing" required micro is Micro 1230......come onnnnnn. Then you hear students whine that nursing school is so hard to get into. Try taking Biochem, Physics, Organic Chem, etc, then get back to me on hard. I've taken those, no sympathy from me.

Those people will most likely find nursing very difficult and will in most cases look for a way out ASAP once they realize the kind of stress and poor working conditions and many times outrageous staffing ratios they will be subjected to. I don't think people take kindly to the scripting and intimidating tactics they will most likely experience!

I was a victim of the economy. Got a Maters in Teaching and a sign on bonus to move to NC to teach. Four years later, I did not get tenure (masters teachers make 12% more than bachelors with same experience); over-educated myself out of a job. I have a bachelors in Biology so that helped me get into Nursing school. Funny thing is that I waffled between Nursing and Teaching when I went back to school in 2002. I have one semester left of an ADN program and many of my classmates are there because of the economy. On a positive note, b/c so many people are moving down here from the north/northeast, there are jobs here and I know of 2 new hospitals, a mental health facility, and 2 expansions going on (one at big Duke) that are going to need nurses. For me, this has been a good thing. I really enjoy nursing and don't feel like it is the last choice. I also think the teaching background will make me a better nurse

Quote from kgh31386There would be less RN students if the schools didn't make it sooooooo flippin easy to get in. A LOT of schools don't even require General Chemistry. The pre-reqs are filled by "aerobics, english 101, art, walking class, basic psychology for a gen ed, a history class, maybe a nutrition class, oh and the OMG SOOOOOO HARD A&P". Some schools do it right and require the chemistry, organic chem. But some that even require Microbiology...have a watered down version. Major university here in town has Micro 3200. The "Nursing" required micro is Micro 1230......come onnnnnn. Then you hear students whine that nursing school is so hard to get into. Try taking Biochem, Physics, Organic Chem, etc, then get back to me on hard. I've taken those, no sympathy from me.

Just for kicks, I went over to J&J's "Discover Nursing" site to see if they'd modified their rosy portrayal of nursing, given the number of graduates who are still looking for work. Not only had they not done so, they have a "Myths" section and guess what their number one myth is? Graduates having a hard time getting jobs. Not only that, they are still talking about sign-on bonuses of up to $14,000. When I read that, I realized that these are people who are either clearly not in touch with reality, or are in cahoots with someone to benefit financially from schools churning out more students.