If you have lived in hurricane prone states such as Florida, Louisiana, Texas and similar coastal weather targets, then you are most likely very familiar with the “eye of the storm” warnings reeled off by meteorologists during the fury that is a hurricane.
For those who don’t – this is the point during a hurricane when the sun comes out and the weather goes instantly from pandemonium to picturesque. However, residents are warned not to be fooled by the chirping birds and gentle sunlight. This is merely the middle of the storm and the gale force winds and sheets of rain will start up again momentarily.
It would appear that the nursing shortage has reached the eye of the storm. Prior to the recently peaked recession, the demand for nurses in hospitals and nursing homes was consistently high. Recruiters could not scoop up nursing school new grads as fast as the schools were graduating them.
With the recession, however, a combination of hospital cutbacks and previously retired nurses returning to the workforce has slightly dampened that need. Stories are now rampant of new grad nurses having trouble finding work. Does this mean that the nursing shortage has passed, problem solved and sunny skies prevail? Don’t leave your hurricane shelter just yet folks.
According to the Bureau of Health Professions, America’s shortage of nurses is just starting to accelerate. The Bureau reports that the shortage hit double digits at 10 percent in 2008, will double to 20 percent by 2015 and reach 29 percent by 2020. This is largely due to the projected population explosion between now and 2020, especially in the elderly demographic.
The worsening shortage is also a result of the retiring nurses in that demographic. The effects of such a shortage on the quality of care and patient outcomes are almost too staggering to comprehend. Various studies have shown that as the nurse to patient ratio rises, so does the likelihood that at least one of those patients will die within 30 days*.
If you are considering a career in nursing, do not be deterred by the stories of new grads having trouble finding work. As is true during the eye of a storm – this too will pass and nurses will be needed more than ever before. Nursing remains a recession proof career, even with its current challenges, and it will continue as such indefinitely.
*University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research
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