Hospitals offer big bonuses, free housing and tuition to recruit nurses (average, analysis)
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Loyalty is earned. Treat employees well and they won't want to leave.
Yes, and no in this situation.
There are plenty of great hospitals/healthcare facilities out there that cannot afford to continually train a revolving door of new grads.
As myself and others have stated in many markets things are bad for new graduates. There just aren't enough places to hire them all, and again the preference is often skewed to those with experience.
Case in point *NONE* of the major NYC area hospital systems hire ADN grads. A few *MIGHT* slip in here and there if she/he is already in a bridge course and nearly finished. So where do the hundreds of newly licensed RNs with ADN degrees (such programs vastly out number BSN schools) that get churned out every six months go?
Those that cannot find work in LTC/nursing homes/rehab or whatever while working towards their BSN, often pick-up and head upstate, down south, or the mid-west/Rust Belt area to find work. There the requirements for BSN are often less strict and thus new grads may find things more welcoming.
You'd think Florida would have a lock on a plethora of nurses, but that often isn't the case. Despite the climate and whatever large parts of that state frequently have facilities short of nurses.
Case in point *NONE* of the major NYC area hospital systems hire ADN grads. A few *MIGHT* slip in here and there if she/he is already in a bridge course and nearly finished. So where do the hundreds of newly licensed RNs with ADN degrees (such programs vastly out number BSN schools) that get churned out every six months go?
I see it more as a "failed get rich quick" scheme... in that they choose the quicker 2 year option instead of the 4 year BSN. Yes, I know some people who switch careers can't be out of a job for 4 years, but a lot of the 2 year people I see, aren't "older people" either.
the younger ones seemed to have fallen for the TV ads for the ADN programs and didn't do due diligence of researching market trends of their future career... same problem they made with their original college degree?
not knocking adn, we have plenty here locally that are employed, but yeah, if they want to work at certain places that hire predominately BSN, they should have looked into that first
edit: it's like why people who want to become CNRAs without becoming nurses first, have the option of getting a masters in anesthesia to become an AA, but the flip side is that not all states allow AAs while they all allow CRNAs
I see it more as a "failed get rich quick" scheme... in that they choose the quicker 2 year option instead of the 4 year BSN. Yes, I know some people who switch careers can't be out of a job for 4 years, but a lot of the 2 year people I see, aren't "older people" either.
the younger ones seemed to have fallen for the TV ads for the ADN programs and didn't do due diligence of researching market trends of their future career... same problem they made with their original college degree?
not knocking adn, we have plenty here locally that are employed, but yeah, if they want to work at certain places that hire predominately BSN, they should have looked into that first
edit: it's like why people who want to become CNRAs without becoming nurses first, have the option of getting a masters in anesthesia to become an AA, but the flip side is that not all states allow AAs while they all allow CRNAs
Again yes, and no.
While it is true there is little difference on the ground between what ADN vs. BSN nurses actually do; thus taking the three year option over four made sense. There is more to things.
First and foremost not every high school graduate or even adult returning to school has the academic chops to gain admission to/handle four year college work. Associate/technical nursing degrees (ADN) are awarded largely from community colleges and or private programs. There for a host of reasons (including state mandates) curriculum *may* be less academically challenging.
Case in point; in past not all ADN programs mandated Organic Chemistry; while nearly all BSN (and diploma schools for that matter) had such requirements. Here in NYS in order to obtain a BofS in any subject mandates distribution of credits in both college level math and science. It is a "Bachelor of Science" degree after all.
Nursing math is hard enough for some; but college level math (Finite/advanced algebra), along with Statistics is more than some can cope with; but to get a BofS in this state (and many others) those credits are required.
There has been a raging debate within nursing profession for decades about how much science (chemistry) should be required to become a nurse. Some schools (even four year degrees) have what is called "chemistry for weenies" (aka, General and or Organic Chemistry for nurses) that touches upon the basics, but aren't full frontal college level. Other schools *all* nursing, pre-med, pharmacy, health sciences take the same chemistry classes. These naturally are geared towards pre-med and often are difficult.
You should also know that the Associate degree in nursing was invented to do just what you have observed; produce RNs faster.
This came about during WWII when there truly was a shortage of nurses. Diploma schools dominated nursing education at that time, and took three to three and one half years to complete. The ADN programs could be run out of community colleges or whatever and only took two and one half years.
This allowed for the "production" of nurses faster and with demands both at home and military every newly license nurse freed up an experienced one for the services. That and or the new grad herself could be sent.
In the post war years there was a concerted push by the nursing profession to move education out of hospitals and into colleges/universities. The two year ADN degree fulfilled a need as created; to produce nurses quickly.
Some in the nursing profession have been pushing to make the BSN standard for entry into practice for > 70 years. It is only within the last decade or so that things are finally moving that way; but only because hospitals are leading that charge. That is in many areas they are only hiring nurses with four year degrees.
Nothing starts a more heated debate among nurses than the old "ADN vs. BSN". Nurses with a BSN degree to not make that much more money than ADN, and far as state licensure and practice rules are concerned a nurse is a nurse is a nurse. That is a properly licensed RN is just that, free to operate under the entire scope of a state's nurse practice acts.
There are only two types of nurses in USA; professional/RN and practical-vocational/ LPN or LVN.
Why would anyone be a nurse when they could drive a bus for $25/hr?
( My sister makes that as a NJ transit bus driver)
School bus drivers make $15/hr.
Most of the states with nursing shortages have low pay
Uh, I live in rural Tennessee, not in the rich states of the northeast. School bus drivers make minimum wage here. We had two incidents in my county over the past few weeks regarding school bus drivers (one fell asleep and the other was DUI - both wrecked) and that's started a debate about what kind of workers they're getting if the employers pay less than Chick-Fil-A.
That's low pay, even by Southern standards. Knoxville, TN is the closest "real metro," and starting pay is higher there. It is much higher over the mountains in Asheville at Mission Health, but the cost of living is also much higher. Asheville probably starts in the $30/hr range.
The hospital I work for has hired many a new grad in the past, only to see them leave after 6 months to a year to go work at Kaiser, who does not hire new grads, or some other higher paying hospital. No loyalty. This is the main problem. I can see why Kaiser does not hire new grads. They don't have to.
Well, as employees gain more experience you have to pay them more. Loyalty goes both ways. The hospital you worked for obviously didn't meet market demand if kaiser was paying more.
What areas of the country are only hiring nurses with "critical care experience"? I just browsed the 2 dozen openings for nurses at my 2 local hospitals here in the northeast, and the only 2 positions requiring critical care experience were for an ICU RN and an RN in the critical care patient transfer program. The openings for Med-Surg, OR, ENT, clinic, and various other programs didn't even mention critical care. They do require either a BSN, or an assocs degree with 2 years experience and working toward a BSN. My personal experience is that only depts requiring critical care skills like the ICU or Trauma sometimes require critical care experience.
When hospitals talk about how they can't find anyone to hire, they are usually talking about nurses with critical care experience. Even the article references this talking about one of the hospitals saying there is a shortage and they are looking for nurses with critical care experience etc....
Well, as employees gain more experience you have to pay them more. Loyalty goes both ways. The hospital you worked for obviously didn't meet market demand if kaiser was paying more.
Again yes, and no.
Nearly all hospitals/healthcare facilities have rather set pay grades for RNs. There are base rates then things tacked on for say night, evenings or weekend differential, degree (some pay BSN nurses a bit more than ADN), and so forth.
By and large a professional nurse tops out in terms of wages about a decade or a bit more after graduation. This will of course vary by institution. Some places will pay a bit more, others less. Some are union, others not.
Nurses here generally earn more (if they wish) by doing overtime and or picking up a shift at another hospital/facility. That is doing their three 12s at one place, then picking up hours elsewhere, even if it is only a few times per month.
That is the secret few realize about nursing. Yes, after graduation and licensure wages are often good to great. But ten, twenty or more years out you don't get the same sort of bump up in wages that is common to other professions. Probably the lowest wages a doctor will earn is in his or her post graduate years; by the end of their careers or at peak it is multiples more.
Nurse's wages are also highly related to local cost of living. Much of CA, New York, and a few other areas pay *very* good wages to RNs, but high COL means much of that money is eaten up by being say in New York, San Francisco, or whatever.
That is the secret few realize about nursing. Yes, after graduation and licensure wages are often good to great. But ten, twenty or more years out you don't get the same sort of bump up in wages that is common to other professions. Probably the lowest wages a doctor will earn is in his or her post graduate years; by the end of their careers or at peak it is multiples more.
Nurse's wages are also highly related to local cost of living. Much of CA, New York, and a few other areas pay *very* good wages to RNs, but high COL means much of that money is eaten up by being say in New York, San Francisco, or whatever.
Many professions don't seem rapid or significant wage increases either. That's not uncommon.
The SF/NYC wages do get eaten up in cost of living. Those are cities for the top 5%-10%. Rural area wages are often so low that it doesn't make up for the somewhat lower cost of living. Small to midsize metros are often the sweet spot in the middle.
I know people laughed at me for choosing the nursing profession (as a male). But I never had to worry about finding employment. Sure it's stressful, manually intensive, often thankless work - but you have to find your niche in the profession - there are so many different opportunities if basic Med-Surg nursing doesn't suit your needs.
I know a nurse manager at a large local hospital here in town. She says they have never had trouble finding nurses. In fact, they are not hiring. Don't fall for the hype.
I wouldn't be a nurse for Trump's Salary. Nothing more depressing than working shifts and being around sickness and death every day. They can keep the "incentives", I'll keep my sanity. God bless the people that can do that though. Don't know how they do it, but they do.
I couldn't be a nurse either, but God Bless the one's who are because someone needs to be! I know years ago Michigan would pay full tuition if you went for nursing because there was such a shortage. Not sure if that is still the case. Nurses can make great money. Depends on your schooling and of course what state you're in. My Aunt was a traveling nurse and made a fantastic amount! They would put her in a rental or hotel for a few weeks to a few months per assignment, gave her a stipend towards food and the salary was almost 6 figures! It got old after a few years though and now she's at a local hospital.
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