With the nursing shortage in full gear everybody wants to be a nurse. It may surprise you that there are tens of thousands of qualified nursing students being turned away from nursing schools throughout the county. There just isn’t enough faculty to teach the incoming students adding the ever growing shortage of qualified nursing predicted to be over 250,000 by the year 2025.
Since 1990 the Southern Regional Education Board (SERB) has warned that the current nursing shortage and shortage of nurse educator is at critical levels. A clear example of this is in South Carolina where despite having 24 undergraduate nursing schools, there is a nursing shortage in the hundreds with a 50% dependency on out of state nurses. One of the main problems facing nursing schools is the lack of funding needed to be able to train the required amount of nurses.
With the newly passed healthcare reform bill and an estimated 30 million soon to access to affordable healthcare, nursing schools will have an even larger strain as the demands for nurses with create an even larger shortage of nursing students. In order to accommodate the million seeking healthcare more nurse educators have to be found and more quality nursing students have to be educated to keep up with healthcare demands.
Source: http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2010/apr/03/03brinson/
Talk to a recent nursing program graduate and you may find him saying “Nursing shortage? You’re kidding right? I can’t find a job!”
So what’s the deal? Is there a shortage — as so many people have been shouting — or not?
Yes, there is. But it’s hidden now in the recession. In fact, the recession possibly has made the coming nursing shortage worse.
An opinion piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer in June put it well:
…“in fact, the recession has given us a temporary reprieve, due to lower demand for elective health services and lower production of nurses.”
The recession has caused some hospitals and other health care facilities to close their door, while nurses who worked part time have upped their hours to full time (due to a desire to make up the income from the job of a laid off spouse).
“As a result,” the opinion piece states, “we are seeing a temporary increase in the ranks of nurses and a decline in nursing vacancies, which is making it harder for some unemployed nurses to find jobs.”
But the day when hospitals will be literally begging for qualified nurses is just around the corner. Hospitals and other health care facilities already know it and are fretting big time that potential nursing students may have changed their minds about entering the profession because they’ve heard that the shortage is exaggerated.
Or, as the Inquirer piece explains it:
“But a long-term nursing shortage persists, and the economic downturn threatens to exacerbate it in the coming years. That’s because the recession is creating the false impression that the shortage is over, generating complacency in the health-care industry and prompting aspiring nurses to think twice before enrolling in nursing schools. That’s precisely the opposite of what needs to happen to avert the crisis.
“The shortage is real. A large portion of the nursing workforce is nearing retirement, and older nurses who stay on the job for a few extra years or return to work after retirement will soon leave the profession as well. When they do, they will take decades of wisdom and expertise with them.”
So recent nursing graduates should take heart — many employers will be pounding on their doors soon enough.
If you’re going to spend a considerable amount of money on nursing school you’re more 
than likely very curious about the quality of different schools or nursing programs. After all, you want to make sure you’ll be spending your tuition dollars on a quality program. And, while there are many Web sites that “rank” colleges and universities, including nursing schools, the two to which you’ll probably want to pay the most attention are the rankings detailed by U.S. News & World Report and the National Institutes of Health. But even these well-regarded ranking entities have some controversy about them. U.S. News, for example, offers potential students searching for college, graduate and professional schools the well known America’s Best Colleges report. And it also offers a ranking list for nursing programs called Best Nursing Graduate Schools. The magazine compiles these rankings based on peer review as well as how students do on standardized tests, tuition fees, how many alumni donate to their alma mater, and so on. Yet you should be a bit wary of the peer review factor mentioned above.
The main weakness regarding peer review is the fact that it’s human nature to praise one’s friends and downplay those for whom one has less-than-warm feelings. Hence faculty may rate Nursing School Rankings: Which Ones Can You Believe? If you’re going to spend a considerable amount of money on nursing school (the average cost for a bachelor of science degree in nu) you’re more than likely very curious about the quality of different schools or nursing programs. After all, you want to make sure you’ll be spending your tuition dollars on a quality program. And, while there are many Web sites that “rank” colleges and universities, including nursing schools, the two to which you’ll probably want to pay the most attention are the rankings detailed by U.S. News & World Report and the National Institutes of Health. But even these well-regarded ranking entities have some controversy about them. U.S. News, for example, offers potential students searching for college, graduate and professional schools the well known America’s Best Colleges report. And it also offers a ranking list for nursing programs called Best Nursing Graduate Schools. The magazine compiles these rankings based on peer review as well as how students do on standardized tests, tuition fees, how many alumni donate to their alma mater, and so on. Yet you should be a bit wary of the peer review factor mentioned above. The main weakness regarding peer review is the fact that it’s human nature to praise one’s friends and downplay those for whom one has less-than-warm feelings. Hence faculty may rate the programs where their friends teach higher than programs they don’t know. For a nice compendium on the rankings “controversy” check out this overview from the University of Illinois.The article has several links to articles both pro and con regarding U.S. News-type of rankings.
A better bet regarding nursing school rankings may be the rankings from the National Institutes of Health. The NIH provides funding to hospitals and schools and each year publishes its own nursing school rankings, which do reflect the schools that received the most NIH-funding. The NIH gives its funds based upon an un-biased peer-review process. the programs where their friends teach higher than programs they don’t know. For a nice compendium on the rankings “controversy” check out this overview from the University of Illinois.The article has several links to articles both pro and con regarding U.S. News-type of rankings. A better bet regarding nursing school rankings may be the rankings from the National Institutes of Health. The NIH provides funding to hospitals and schools and each year publishes its own nursing school rankings, which do reflect the schools that received the most NIH-funding. The NIH gives its funds based upon an un-biased peer-review process.
Is There REALLY a Nursing Shortage?
Anecdotal evidence is saying that, for some nurses looking for work during this recession, job opportunities are slim indeed. How can that be, you may be asking? After all, all we’ve been hearing about for years is the critical shortage of nurses, a shortag
e that will only get worse as the United States’ population ages.But Health Affairs: A Policy Journal of the Health Field, stated in its June issue online that “[r]registered nurse (RN emloyement has increased during the current recession, and we may soon see an end to the decade-long nurse shortage.” However, the authors, contend, “large shortages are still expected in the next decade. Until nursing education capacity is increased, future imbalances in the nurse labor market will be unavoidable.” Sounds like good news for those who wish to go to nursing school, doesn’t it. But, and this is a large but, interest in nursing careers is so, nursing schools can’t keep up with the demand. According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), “U.S. nursing schools turned away 49,948 qualified applicants from baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs in 2008 due to an insufficient number of faculty, clinical sites, classroom space, clinical preceptors, and budget constraints. Almost two-thirds of the nursing schools responding to the survey pointed to faculty shortages as a reason for not accepting all qualified applicants into entry-level baccalaureate programs.” So interest is there, but there aren’t enough faculty or facilities to a) train the people who are interested in going to nursing schools which would b) alleviate the coming critical need for nurses. The United States Health Resources and Services Administration projects a shortage in 2010 of more than 213,000 nurses. So, yes, the recession probably is cutting down on the number of nursing positions open now. Nurses are delaying retirement; hospitals may not be filling vacant positions, etc. But the shortage? It is a comin’!
