Abby Fox
Whenever you go to the hospital, you taken care of by the nurses long before you meet with the doctor. They give you shots at your doctors office, they check up on you and make sure you are okay, and many argue that they are the backbone of the healthcare system. During the past few years, the healthcare system has been in crisis mode trying to fill the open slots in their offices and hospitals; and with the high job growth projection it should be easy to fill the slots.
The cause for such a shortage is because the age of the nurses. Many are apart of the baby boom generation and they are now starting to retire. The reason that this is such an issue is because they are retiring in the masses and there aren’t enough applicants and graduates to fill the spots; yet colleges are still turning away perfectly good applicants who are more than qualified. Since there are so many professionals retiring all around the same time, that is why it is such a job crisis. According to CNN Money, there are about 3 million nurses around the country and by 2022, there needs to be 1 million more. Colleges cannot have all of hopefuls applying to nursing school because there aren’t enough teachers to teach them.
The supply and demand for nurses is so great due to the rise of the population and the job growth rate of 40% in the coming years. The reason so many people gravitate towards nursing is because of the scheduling and they get to help people. In the graph, it shows the supply and demand curve for nursing. It explains that by 2020, there will be a shortage of over 800,000 RN’s across the country. This along with NP’s and other specialty nurses, the growth rate will continue and the demand will try to be met.
All in all, there are more nurse openings then there are nurses which can cause issues down the line when it comes to employment rates and job openings. Luckily, there are more and more colleges that are opening nursing schools and giving more opportunities for the roles to be filled in the hospitals and the offices.
Works Cited
America, In. “Amid US Nursing Shortage, Colleges Reject Thousands of Applicants.” CNNMoney, Cable News Network, money.cnn.com/2018/04/30/news/economy/nursing-school-rejections/index.html.
“Nursing Shortage Will Continue to Pinch Hospital Margins.” Modern Healthcare, www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20180307/NEWS/180309921.
This blog caught my eye because I am interested in going in the health field. I thought it was interesting to hear there is a shortage because I hear about so many people who want to become a nurse. I also can see how this would be an issue because as the baby boomer generation gets older, they are the people who are in higher demand for nurses. Also, sometimes nurses get a bad reputation for being lower leveled because they are not at the physician/doctor level so it may draw people away from entering the field. Hopefully nursing schools allow qualified students to enter nursing school so people can get the health care they need.
ReplyDeleteThis post really surprised me, as I feel like every girl in the building wants to go into the field of health. Although there is a really high demand for nurses, I would have thought that the supply would have been in line or even greater. I see how many people are enrolled in the medical insight strains and I guess can't picture the number of student wanting to become nurses being much lower but from the data in your post it clearly is. Many of my friends have received their CNA certification already and are well on their way to becoming members of the medical workforce as high school students.
ReplyDeleteIt is very interesting that there are a shortage of nurses, yet people still get turned away from nursing school. It is hard to increase the amount of nurses if there are not enough schools and spots to educate them. Could a shortage could also increase wait time and cost in hospitals?
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that nurses are the backbone of the healthcare industry. Although not an RN, I worked as a CNA for about 6 months and the doctors would not have been able to successfully work without us as their helpers. However, the fact that there is going to be a shortage of nurses in the near future is surprising to me. This shocks me because during my hunt for a college roommate I talked to so many girls that are planning on majoring in Nursing, but I can see why some would be steering away from the field because of the long hours and all the duties.
ReplyDeleteBefore I read this blog, I had guesses about the sudden need for nurses because of the baby boomers retiring. It’s important that clinics and hospitals are able to fill the job slots because nurses play such a significant role in the workforce. Besides nursing, one can make connections to other jobs that are soon going to need more employees. It’s amazing how much of the labor force is made up of baby boomers; this just shows how impactful the one generation is. Once the baby boomers are retired, it’ll be interesting to see how America’s economy will do with the large change.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to the current labor force of nurses retiring, nursing school is very difficult to pass. My sister, who is in nursing school, started out with a cohort of 100 students. Now, due to people switching out of the major and failing to meet academic requirements, the group is less than 30 people. I know that many hospitals now offer sign on bonuses (even though they are taxed) to new nurses.
ReplyDeleteThe shortage of nurses is a scary one. Because so many people are retiring from the field, but also there are so many people retiring and getting worse in health, there needs to be a lot more nurses. I know that nursing schools are difficult to get into. My older sister was going to school to become a nurse and you can not apply until your Sophomore year of college. And the amount of people who are accepted into the program is very limited and you need to be of the best academics and volunteering with other qualifications. This was at UW-Milwaukee. The shortage of nurses should be helped by having more high schools promoting the job. And having more qualified teachers to teach the nursing students, also having more teaching hospitals.
ReplyDeleteI found this blog surprising because although many nurses are retiring (and therefore demand for the job would go up), I thought the supply was enough. I know many people that either want to go into or are in the health field, specifically nursing. Now, in hindsight, I see why this is a concern. Even though the supply of RN’s is relevative constant, we need an increase. I wonder if this will affect how easy it is to get into nursing school, simply because we need more people.
ReplyDeleteI’m actually not all that surprised that the supply of nurses is so much lower than the current demand for them. Especially considering that fact that many of these nurses were from the baby boom era, and will be retiring, it only makes sense. Not to mention, even though more colleges may be offering nursing courses, it’s still quite hard to get into these programs.
ReplyDeleteI have heard about the baby boomer generation retiring in masses lately, but did not know that the nursing field was taking such a large hit. As more from this era retire and the supply for new workers does not change, overall aggregate supply is lowered -slowing economic growth. The nurse shortage is no doubt linked to this, and it is very likely that with less nurses the productivity of hospitals will slow down. While in some industries that might not be a huge problem, in the health industry it could create many issues.
ReplyDeleteI find it very interesting how sometimes we forget that many factors, even something like the baby boom and population size, can have a huge impact on the economy. The nurse position in the job force is in huge supply, and this will probably influence the future generations decisions on which career path they will take.
ReplyDeleteEven when I was younger the most common thing children said they wanted to be when they grow is a doctor or nurse. I've always had the mindset that eventually too many people want to be nurses and I should steer away from that field to have better opportunities job wise. Now reading this, it brings me a surprise because I never thought the supply of nurses would be not fulfilled for the population. I believe an increase in nurses will occur very soon as the demand is high and people need to be cared for.
ReplyDeleteI think that one of the other problems and causes of there being a shortage of nurses is because a lot of people would rather go to school for a number of years to become a doctor than to become a nurse. Doctor's get paid more and respected more and typically enjoy their jobs more than nurses who really are the backbone of the medical and health field. Because so many medical students would rather be doctors than nurses, this may also be one of the causes for the shortage of nurses in addition to the baby boomers reaching retirement age.
ReplyDeleteThe baby boomer generation retiring is causing all sorts of shortages and debates. Not only is it evidently an issue in the nursing industry, but looking at the wider scope, this generation is taking more from Social Security than those who preceded them. It’s also interesting that there is a greater shortage for nurses in contrast to doctors, especially since it requires less time in school.
ReplyDeleteIt is unfortunate to see how impacted future generations will be impacted due to the baby boom era. We see it now like you mentioned with nurses, but what happens when it begins to happen with first responders and other important careers. It like you mentioned is going to be a chain reaction. The lack of nurses is triggered by many things including shortage of professors to teach hopeful applicants. Shortage of professors is due to shortage of other professors, so on and so forth. However, if we can somehow manage to increase class sizes for the time being until we are back on track, we will be able to manage the goals you had mentioned such as increased job growth and more.
ReplyDeleteIt’s not surprising that the amount of nurses are going down due to the baby boom. But the demand for more nurses is something that colleges and hospitals need to take into account now so they can replace those boomers. And now that the baby boom era is slowly going into retirement homes as well, there will need to be more nurses in those retirement homes. The job demand will continue to increase if the colleges continue to turn away those good applicants.
ReplyDeleteIt surprises me that there is so few nurses and that we need so many more, it seems that every girl in the school wants to become something in the health field. Perhaps this problem will solve it's self as job popularity tends to be cyclical, meaning that every generation has jobs that are most popular.
ReplyDeleteBeyond increasing the number of nursing schools, I believe colleges will also have to make tuition more affordable for students. Working in the medical field often requires extensive schooling, which is a cost many families find difficult to cover. By allowing more students to attend college, we can increase the supply of nurses available in the job market.
ReplyDeleteThis is not surprising to me because typically the nurses I see are beginning to get older. With a shortages of nurses in the future, I think colleges are going to need to allow more spots for nursing students or make school more affordable. Going into the medical field can be extremely expensive which can turn a lot of applicants away. Aside from nursing, I feel like there will be other jobs impacted by the baby boom retirement.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea that there was such a high demand for more nurses and too many job openings compared to the amount of nurses/people who are able to apply. In the years to come due to our population growing so fast, the problem will hopefully be solved by all of the generations going into medical field and trying to fill those spots. Healthcare is a big deal and this is a serious issue that if we cannot solve will have a very bad outcome in the future.
ReplyDeleteIt’s surprising to me that there is a shortage of nurses in hospitals. They are important to each hospital and do certain tasks that the doctors wouldn’t be able to take care of since they have a small amount of time they have to be with their patient before the next. Increasing schools with courses for nursing may help bring back the number of nurses, but perhaps they’d need to focus on advertising the job as well so we get more people interested in the field.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know there was going to be such a shortage coming up in the near future which is going to be difficult for our generation. With the programs we have at our school like the CNA training and insight, I feel as if a lot of people in our generation are wanting to become nurses which will hopefully help out when the shortage occurs. Healthcare has some of the most important careers out there. I'm hoping this shortage can be stopped.
ReplyDeleteIt’s surprising to hear that by 2020 there will be a shortage of 800,000 nurses, that number seems insanely high. Considering all of the people I know who plan on becoming a nurse after college, it seems crazy that we will still have a shortage. I believe that as more and more baby boomers begin to retire, several careers will have shortages, which although its bad for the economy, means there will most likely be more job opportunities for my generation, which is a good thing for us. I think colleges need to work together to make a nursing degree more affordable and accessible to people who want to pursue nursing because it could help close the shortage gap in that field. Additionally, this makes me curious as to how there isn’t also a shortage of doctors, as it takes a lot more education and money to become one.
ReplyDeleteI always find it interesting how large an effect the baby boomer generation will have on and part of the economy. I'm surprised that they are responsible for so many of the nurses too. Well, with the high demand with nurses, their average wage/salary will most likely increase as a result. I'm willing to bet that the number of nurses is decreasing because of the rising cost of colleges and nursing school. This change will at least make more people think about becoming a nurse.
ReplyDeleteHow does an issue like this get fixed? Either colleges and universities will have to either increase their teaching staff, or the cause of demand would have to decrease. But over the next few years, either the demand for nursing is to increase, or it will gradually go down until the nurses supplied and demanded would reach equilibrium
ReplyDeleteI like many others was surprised to see there is a shortage of nurses, as I've talked with and heard a lot of girls want to go into that important field. However of the colleges are rejecting candidates while there's a shortage that seems a little like shooting yourself in the foot. Like if there is a huge demand for nurses you should train an amount that is capable of meeting that demand, not dismiss thousands of potential quality nurses. I'm sure with all of the interest in the medical field that this shortage will eventually even out but the way to do that is not by denying training to many candidates especially when that profession is in need of workers.
ReplyDeleteI think it was very interesting to see you link the baby boom to the supply of nurses, in the long run the supply of nurses will decrease from the baby boom generation to the next. In addition to the lack of supply a lot of the retired baby boomers increase the demand for nurses as elderly people require more medical care than the youth.
ReplyDeleteI have always wanted to be a nurse, but started to bring myself down when I would hear how hard it was to really become one. I am in shock after reading your article. There are so many students that are studying so hard to become a nurse but can never achieve their goals, yet there are so many hospitals and offices that are in need of them? I feel that colleges have such a high standard for these CNAs that they end up getting pushed so hard that fluctuate constantly and eventually want to give up. If there is such a need for many nurses, colleges and these hospitals need to take a stand and train these quality nurses to be better than they already are in order to work in the real world where their help is truly needed. Nurses probably tend to give up due to the expenses of college and nursing school given the fact that they can't even get the jobs they want to be able to pay for these things. If you want to demand for more nurses, then go to all the nursing schools and train them how you want so they can meet your high standard.
ReplyDelete^^^ Ellie Reyes
DeleteEllie
ReplyDelete