This is an article about problems that exist in the area of nursing education. Nursing Schools Can't Grow Fast Enough to Let in Everyone They Want to - Bloomberg Business
I think this protects the industry a bit. If they were all admitted (50% more per semester) we'd certainly experience a bubble and decline in wages. Plus, the competition is driving up the quality of applicants, requiring high GPAs to be competitive. I like it.
While it might protect the industry it also creates greater risk for patients. My wife is an RN. As more and more of the physicians workload shifts onto the nurses they are stretched even more thin. This results in higher nurse to patient ratios and longer shifts for nurses. Research has shown that longer shifts and higher ratios lead to more incidents of errors some that rise to the level of serious injury and death. The shortage of nurses must be addressed and soon. There is no option like in teaching to issue emergency licenses. I don't like it :-( PS. Shouldn't this thread be in "Nursing and medical-related degrees"?
Nursing programs have a pretty high dropout rate relative to other bachelors level programs. It shouldn't be surprising. It's an attractive job on paper. You are virtually guaranteed employment post-graduation. You are almost certain to make a respectable middle class income with the potential for six figures down the road with more certifications and education. Then you get to clinical rotations and discover that blood is yucky and the person people call to clean up poop is you. The job isn't for everyone. If classes are kept too small, you run the risk of not having enough new nurses in the pipeline. Sure, this drives wages up. It also drastically increases the amount of mandatory overtime nurses end up working which puts them, and patients, at risk.
I'm not seeing the security in the nursing profession that was there say 5 or 10 years ago. Locally, there are more graduates than there are jobs and the more desirable employers can be quite picky about new hires. What was once a diploma program that grew into an ADN now really requires a Bachelors to be truly competitive and the movers and shakers really need an MSN, NP, or RNA to make the big bucks, with absolutely none of it guaranteed. If the nursing schools grew as fast as they say they want to it would hurt their graduates much more than it would help the profession. Of course, this may vary a bit due to local market conditions. Nursing schools are like any other business and want to grow and make money when they see opportunity. This if fine, but individuals should really look hard at their local situation before making the leap.
Meanwhile, about an hour or two from here, there is a big healthcare cluster. They are begging for nurses. They are posting sign-on bonuses for LPNs and starting wages in the mid $20/hr range. RN? Take your pick. Around here, there is demand but it is more competitive. The RN jobs two hours away that will put $50,000+ in your pocket will only buy you $32,000 annually locally. New York still has diploma programs to obtain an RN license so I don't know if that is flooding the market or what the situation is.
I don't like it. I think they should really open up the doors to nursing students. We are a graying demographic in the US and there won't be nurses to take care of us. The other issue is the LVN to RN - there are only about 30 openings in northern California each year through the public schools. That leaves a few private schools where you can get in through a lottery. I think there is job security in nursing, depending on where you are in the country. When I'm in the hospital I want a LVN to RN nurse or a ASN RN or a RN who started in a 2-year program and then got a BSN... the other first-time BSN RNs have said repeatedly that they want to get into administration and leadership. In my opinion, having been in the field for over 30 years, I'd rather have one who started at the bottom, planning on being a bedside nurse and who has exceptional clinical skills. Even when I was in LVN school a thousand years ago, I could run circles clinically around the SDSU BSN RN students. They couldn't do much of anything. Just my opinion.
Nurses tend to go where the money is. I have a friend who works as a recruiter for a large health care organization in Nashville. She told me not too long ago that she has a hard time recruiting nurses because they can make so much more money just three hours away in Memphis.
