Minn. Faces Overcrowding in Nursing Field

[dArKeR]

The nursing shortage is turning out to be a myth for many Minnesotans trying to find work in a tough economy.

Although some experts say a shortage of nurses is still inevitable, for those who took the plunge and now find themselves turned away it shows just how tough it is to time a changing job market.

In Minnesota, nursing vacancies have dropped from 3,000 in 2001 to 1,900 in the second quarter this year. Just 3.7 percent of nursing jobs statewide are vacant, and in the Twin Cities area the average is just 2 percent.

Kirsten Kaufmann spent four years and $100,000 pursuing her nursing degree, expecting a job in what forecasters had long predicted would be a field with plenty of demand. But after graduating from Gustavus Adolphus College in May, the 22-year-old still hasn't found a permanent job.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=541&e=21&u=/ap/20040823/ap_on_he_me/too_many_nurses

[Kagemusha]

1. Don't worry, once they lose their overtime there'll be a lot of

openings when the experienced nurses simply stop working beyond their regular hours.

[krkaufman]

2. Dang...!!

You beat me to it.

[liberalnurse]

7. Yeap!

[Morning Dew]

10. But will they be allowed to refuse extra hours?

eom

[Ernesto]

13. Mrs Ernesto is a nurse

So I know nurses are excluded from the overtime cut. By the way, inexperienced new RNs commonly find a lack of steady work. Experience is what hospital look for in new hires. It took my wife years to get to the top of the heap for the best jobs.
PS.... send her to Culeeforneeya

[medeak]

3. come to my state..

My Mom has had two surgeries in 3 months...there wasn't one nurse who could speak English...all from India

[TX-RAT]

4. Send them to TX

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

9. or Seattle.

You can pretty much pick your workplace.

[Fovea]

5. Can't afford health care?

Then you won't use a nurse.
Patient census is way down, so is nursing demand.

[no_hypocrisy]

6. Report from northern New Jersey. There's a nursing shortage, but . . .

the hospitals send representatives to the Phillipines to headhunt in order to recruit scores of nurses, nurses' aides, etc. to REPLACE nurses who have been employed for years. The administrators claim this is fiscal prudence. Patients say otherwise when there is a significant time lag between pressing the "Assistance" button and the arrival of staff, and when the new staff has a command of rudimentary English. Laid-off nurses feel betrayed. Nurses remaining on staff feel exhausted as they have more patients to oversee during extended shifts -- with no overtime pay as of today.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

8. Are there really too many nurses, or

are the hospitals simply not hiring more sorely needed personnel?

[Enraged_Ape]

11. DING DING DING! We have a winner!!

Took the words right out of my mouth.

[sadiesworld]

12. Bejeezus! 100K in loans for a nursing degree!

Not to knock a degree in nursing (wish I had one at the moment) but it is a 4 year degree. And in a field where I wouldn't think the choice of university was that critical.

As an aside, if she can't find a job she really should understand that she is part of the new global economy which requires that she retrain frequently. :crazy: