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Brenda L. Cleary, Angela Barron McBride, Margaret L. McClure, and Susan C. Reinhard Expanding The Capacity Of Nursing Education Health Affairs, July/August 2009; 28(4): w634-w645. [Abstract] [Full Text] [Figures Only] [PDF] [Reprints & Permissions]

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In Reality There is No Nursing Shortage

Lynn E. Taylor, CNP   ( 15 June 2009 )

In Reality There is No Nursing Shortage 15 June 2009
Lynn E. Taylor, CNP, Nurse Practitioner Hospitalist Alta Vista Regional Hospital Send comment to journal: Re: In Reality There is No Nursing Shortage ursamaj3{at}msn.com Lynn E. Taylor, CNP	Having been in nursing for over 35 years, working in many capacities as well as instructing, I disagree with the premise that we have now, or will have, a nursing shortage in the U.S. In fact, we have an overabundance of nurses. The problem? The problem is not the lack of nurses; how could it be when in NM alone we have at least 9 schools of nursing (probably more; I have not researched this fact), and each of these schools turns out approximately 45 LPNs and 45 RNs a year. To me this equates to 810 new nurses a year for NM (which is primarily a rural state). Taking this into consideration, if we count every school of nursing across the United States, we would find that thousands of nurses graduate every year, so where is the shortage? Even if every nurse now employed decided to "retire" at this moment, every position could easily be covered by just the graduating classes this year. There is no shortage! What is construed as a "lack of nurses" is in actuality a glut of "nurses" turned out by these "nursing mills." The problem is that the nurses are undereducated and unable to perform their duties when they graduate. How can these nurses be educated properly when they are forced to get through a program in two years that traditionally took a minimum of three years in a diploma program or four years in a baccalaureate program, and still be expected to know as much as those with more baseline education. In addition, the candidates that are being accepted to the associate degree schools of nursing are minimally tested for their scholastic ability and not tested at all for their ability to be an adequate health care provider. This is not the fault of the student. It is the fault of our system. We wanted "more nurses," and we put one of the most important professions into an "assembly line" profession. Not only do the future nurses of America lack in nursing knowledge, but even before they enroll in a nursing program, they lack educationally. Our secondary schools no longer teach basics like reading, writing, and arithmetic. The graduates of secondary schools, for the most part, can't add without the use of a calculator; they have no idea of history, no geography; they are lacking terribly -- before getting to a profession that requires not only a very high level of academic ability, but also critical thinking. I have instructed in an associate degree program. Out of 45-50 students in a class, I might have had 10 who were not only academically capable but also had the sensibilities to be a nurse. So, out of the 90 that graduated from our community college, maybe 10 of them will go to work at their chosen profession. Most of them will take the NCLEX exam (which is, in my opinion "dummied down" so anyone can pass), and they will pass but not go to work. Once again, I state, there is no shortage. We are incorrect in the way we are choosing individuals to become the most important people in the world: the providers of care for the sick and infirm. We are incorrect in the way we educate these individuals, and we are wrong in the way we attempt to continually educate them to keep them happy in their chosen profession. Money is the most important product to many nurses; long gone is the "caring" part of our field.