The Nursing Shortage: A self-inflicted wound?

While I agree that for some working conditions are poor, from where I sit there is no shortage.

There is no nursing shortage!!!!!

With all due respect to the OP, I just get a negative feeling in my stomach when I hear about the Shortage with all the new grads that can't even find an acute care job.I do believe there really is a shortage. It is kinda like when gas prices are up, you drive the minimum you have to.I think they are spreading the workload over fewer nurses, not hiring for posted vacant positions, and as time goes by, I do believe the ones that returned b/c of the economy(like the wife that wouldn't be working if her husband didn't get laid off) leave the practice, and ones that were in retirement leave practice, we will see the sign-on bonuses, and recruiters more and more active again. I know no one answer nails it, and even my answer is really simplistic, but I DO BELIEVE THE ECONOMY IS 80% OF THE NEW GRADs TROUBLEs. As far as the work environments, I think each one has its challenges. I don't really forsee them being better even when the economy gets better. Insurances have made sure that only higher and higher acuity patients make the admission, and I JUST BELIEVE IT IS A SPECTRUM of issues that have to be addressed.To the wonderful marketing people at Baby Powder Co. and their commercials, IT SHOULDN'T BE "BECOME A NURSE." . . .IT SHOULD BE "MAKE SURE YOU KEEP YOUR NURSES IN NURSING"

You're right. Technically, there IS a shortage, but since the economy has tanked, employers aren't filling positions. I don't see it improving anytime soon. In fact, someone recently posted in another thread that a hospital in Miami plans to lay off 400 nurses.

Umm...I fled toward acute care. I left a position after one year and changed jobs, not b/c I hated nursing or was stressed, but because I wanted something more challenging and to learn more. I wanted more stress, I guess, in other words lol. Nursing is a stressful job, but I don't feel stressed at work or when I come home. I was the first month or two after orientation, but once you're confident in yourself and your abilities, that changes, and work becomes enjoyable. I love the ICU, my nursing niche , and I love my co-workers. However, I also really liked my co-workers at my other job, so the statistics might show that I am a stressed new grad (since I changed jobs after 1 year) according to that quote, but that's entirely the opposite....I wanted more of a challenge.

I agree with the article, those things do exist but not in all depts or all facilities at the same time. I also believe the shortage exists, but only in certain parts of the country. As for self-inflicted, I am not sure it is the nurses who create the stress and fatique. If you have a plan, let's hear it. I am all for improving the profession.

There is a hospital in Taunton Ma ready to close.....approx 220 beds.Nurses Are Talking About: Jobs for New GradsThe Big Lie?Without a doubt, the main source of frustration experienced by recently graduated and licensed but still unemployed nurses is what could be called "the big lie."In other words, the television commercials that encourage young people to become nurses -- and then abandon them for months (or years) without employment; and the educators who tell them that the associate's degree is perfectly adequate to guarantee employment, that they will have their pick of jobs when they graduate, and that there is plenty of time to get a BSN later on. Who knows whether it is greed, ignorance, or wishful thinking that underlies the fairy tales told to nursing students about their future job prospects? Whatever the motivation, the disillusionment of our new grads is palpable. The jobs they expected after all of their hard work just haven't materialized, and some grads are getting pretty desperateMedscape: Medscape Access requires registration but it is free and great resource

I'm still looking for the article, but I think the problem of new grads quitting is is largely related to lack of effective orientation programs. I've been through one crappy orientation after another. Without an organized program, many nurses fail. Perhaps not right away- but without a good foundation some new nurses do not feel capable in all areas of their job, never gain confidence, and get overwhelmed. This sets the stage for them to never feel like "part of the team" and as soon as another problem, say with personalities, shows up they move on.

I can't comment on the nursing shortage except thanks to these boards and other personal issues I have decided to discontinue the pre-req path and continue practicing law instead of going down a thankless path. Beating your wall against the walls hurts. So one less BSN out there. Maybe I will just try to be a better lawyer and help people that way.However -- I will comment that the above is a very well-written article and so true as far as the family dynamics and poor physician advice that keep individuals on life support to no avail. I am sure you are aware of the studies re how much of our health care money is spent on the last few months of life.

Two words that are like fingernails on a blackboard to me are "Nursing Shortage".....where I am in Southeast Florida there really IS no shortage and has not been for some time.Same reasons....too many schools now, hospitals cutting staff....yada, yada, yada.....I personally know several experienced ICU nurses who have not gotten jobs in almost one year....and a new grad that is still looking for almost 2.There are some jobs in LTC because of our abundant elderly population.....but I am really tired of hearing "that " phrase....

I agree with a lot of the article except for the statement that there is a nursing shortage and that there is a lack of new grad nurses willing to pick up the slack of those nurses fleeing the work place. I also disagree with the idea that this is a "self-inflicted" wound.There is no nursing shortage and it needs to be repeated and repeated until the media gets it right, otherwise we will continue to have these completely futile discussions about how to create better conditions in nursing, and we will continue to focus on nurses themselves as the guilty party in creating those poor conditions to begin with.Nurses have no control over the way the medical industry works. There are a lot of powerful people and corporations, big Pharma, for-profit organizations, the insurance industry, the media, lobbyists, and politicians who work together to create the current system. Nurses are just cogs in the wheel. And I hate it when I have to read yet another article about how we have done this to ourselves because....well, I'm not sure what the because is. Because apparently it's not enough that we have gotten through one more day of 10/10 stress, taken ourselves home, cried, tried to find some quality time with our families, paid our bills with a diminishing income, struggled to hold onto our homes and our pensions, struggled to find some joy in life, to take care of our kids, to continue our education so we can be better nurses, looked for some outlet for spiritual support, tried to eat or exercise, deal with our own health issues, and slept. And then after trying to do all of that we haven't picked ourselves up and taken to the board rooms and the streets to go head to head with the power structure to change the medical industry, because somehow, the onus for change lies squarely on our shoulders and no body else's.I'm just tired of the structure of this dialogue. To accomplish change, we need to first address the flawed foundations of the debate. Meaning that there is NO nursing shortage and there is NO shortage of new grads and the health care industry has no real impetus to change the way they treat nurses.

Quote from joanna73You're right. Technically, there IS a shortage, but since the economy has tanked, employers aren't filling positions. I don't see it improving anytime soon. In fact, someone recently posted in another thread that a hospital in Miami plans to lay off 400 nurses.