Why Exactly Is There a Nursing Shortage?

I am curious to know why there is a nursing shortage. Why?
Well, I can't believe no one has tried to answer your question yet. Although, if you read through the rest of these posts you should get a really good idea why. The work is hard and stressful(older nurses are leaving the hospitals and going to other areas of nursing and other careers). Not as many people are going to nursing schools anymore.(they are going to get their degrees in high tech and computer type jobs) Why wipe butts when you can sit at a nice clean desk or travel to exciting places nowadays. I think the main reason is that the job is too demanding and hospitals aren't paying what they should to nurses who work very very very very hard. The nurses are continuously saying, "They don't pay me enough for this and I don't need to deal w/this stuff anymore!" Don't let this discourage your studies because it is a rewarding field at times, but that is my thought on the subject.Good Luck,Roach
I agree with the previous post. The main reason why nurses are not working is PAY. Hospitals want to pay as little as they can. You will notice that the nurses that are being paid more are the nurses that we hired many years back when there was a tremendous nursing shortage and they were hired at a higher pay and were offered bigger yearly raies. These nurses now are comming closer to retirement and hospitals are replacing these positions with new grads with little pay. I know several nurses that have quit nursing and have gone back to school to be dental hygenists...they make around $25 per hour here vs $14 for nursing. Not to mention they have no weekend and holidays to work.
Hi,Let me chime in and type that I agree with the previous posts. Also, nursing is predominated by women. Women are finding that they can serve capably as business leaders, lawyers, physicians, TV personalities, pilots, as well as computer or dot.com experts as alluded to in the previous post. Women are also finding that they are capable of driving a big rig, driving a garbage truck or a UPS truck, building homes, operating cranes, professionally wrestling, etc. What in the world would possess someone to come into a profession of service, blood, guts, and gore when they can get paid the same or more pay putting in a hard day's work with minimal paperwork, interruptions, and legal hassles.Even though I acknowledge that nursing is now becoming a cross to bear, I went into this, and I don't regret it. It has helped me tremendously in my personal growth. It has enabled me to play a major role in assisting family members and friends and others during a rough period of time. That gives my career and my life some meaning. For now, I'm going to hang tough, because there are still times it is worth it even though these experiences are getting few and far between.
There are many reasons for the shortage. As someone mentioned, more and varied choices for women among them. But also consider the level of responsibility, the hours, the intensive labor, emotional investment and sometimes, lack of support from your own administration, now look at the pay. Enough said.
Some interesting stats and commentary on the nursing shortage: http://auden.webster.edu/~greggmau/links.html
I agree with most of the previous posts. It should also be noted that with an increasingly aged population and a low unemployment fewer will choose nursing and the demand will increase.The profession is typically female dominated (in this century anyway)and wages remain low for that reason. The AHA also counts on this fractured workforce of part timers(whether it is because of raising a family, continued education,etc) to keep salaries low. Smart nurses will ultimately go the agency routebecause this will drive salaries up for all nurses.Most hospitals offer crappy benefits and with the IT industries setting the pace for independent contractors benefits nurses will benefit
Originally posted by incognito:I am curious to know why there is a nursing shortage. Why?
Like the previous posts have said you can read anywhere on this board and find out why there is a shortage of nurses. As time goes by it will only get worse. There were several reasons stated as to why nurses leave another to add to the list is the eating of our young and peers. Its awful. We dont support each other at all. Also, Its not just working the w/end shift, actually I dont mind becasue it gives me days of during the week, but its how some people never seem to work the weekend, or rotate to another floor or whatever. You get the picture. We aren't even good to each other, its amazing we are good to the pts.Another, point to ponder is the Nursing shortage is only for bedside nursing. If you apply in home health, office ,school, occ.health etc. you will face stiff competition to get the job. ( I went to 2 BIG city VNA's today. Neither had any FT positions,one didn't even have any PT positions open, just PRN, do we really need to wonder why?------------------A nurses prayer: Please don't let THAT be what I think It is. AHHHHHH
Originally posted by kona2:Some interesting stats and commentary on the nursing shortage: http://auden.webster.edu/~greggmau/links.html
Originally posted by oramar: Originally posted by kona2:Some interesting stats and commentary on the nursing shortage: http://auden.webster.edu/~greggmau/links.html
Wow, how things have changed in 10.5 years... and NOT for the better!
I am looking to go back to school for my MSN because I don't feel that I am paid what I am worth (no nurse is paid what they are worth in my opinion) so not only do you have the reasons posted previously, but you have the nurses that are fed up with being paid less than adequate wages for a very demanding job and are going back to school in order to make more money. I make a decent living, don't get me wrong, but if I can get paid the same sitting behind a desk or something, why wouldn't I want to do that? I was speaking to one of our hospitalists about RN pay and she was APPALLED when I told her what I brought in.