hospital impact

The nursing shortage is a man made shortage... When I went to nursing school in the mid eighties - there was shortage. Shortly after I graduated - early nineties - it was tough finding a job...

Now once again. There is a shortage - a "crisis"...

I know electricians, plumbers, truck drivers, mechanics, computer analysts - all make a decent buck more than I do as a (male) nurse with 15 years of E.R. experience. At my last hospital job in an ER, I had it figured out that if I kept working there long enough - I'd end up paying the hospital: I'd get my 2.5% raise and then the cost of my health insurance premiums went up ~8% a month or two later... The first hospital I worked at went bankrupt for a bout 1.3 Billion (Allegheny General). The last hospital I worked at closed after ~ 150 years in the business (St Francis Hospital) - Both in Pittsburgh...

And then - get this: You work with sick people all day -VOMITTING sick. You work long shifts and rotate nights + days + evenings - and then your boss wants to know "why did you call off"?

Part of the problem is that nurses wages have been frozen for, hmm, years? Decades? Centuries??? Anyhow, I blame that on the fact that nurs"ing" is/has been a predominantley female line of work. As a result of those 2 issues - alas, not so hot wages, lame retirement plans (if any), burnout, etc... Oh yeah, and now another "crisis" shortage...

Nursing is great on one hand - you can always find a job. On the other - ever try to support a wife and 3 kids on a nurses buck?

DON'T even START with the "It's so rewarding" or ""It's a calling" or "You just don't care" or "You are just in it for the money B.S." Have you EVER tried to pay at the grocery store with your "I'm a caring nurse card"? PU-LEASE... Granted it may be great if you are single and don't have kids and wanted to travel but if it were that great - why then is the nationwide avg age of a R.N. around 50 and why are there so few younger nurses enetering the profession year after year?

Oh - I can hear it now from all the Nurse Nightingales out there: "Our society is less caring" mumbo jumbo crap... That's not it - nursing is NOT an attractive career.

Forgot this little gem: http://www.ahd.com/freesearch.php3

Type in your favorite hospital and see how much revenue your fav made...


Here is an example. Not only did Pittsburgh win the superbowl last year they won this too (One hospital in the City of Pgh):

Total Patient Revenue: $6,398,553,843
http://www.ahd.com/free_profile.php?hcfa_id=4887ca452ac38ebf4b9d52d1a0386752&id=6717

The nursing shortage may be man-made. However, it is very real. Healthcare in general will be feeling the pain of higher demand over supply for decades to come.

If the healthcare education system does not compensate by expanding and providing adequate capacity to respond to the current and expected healthcare human capital resource shortages, the healthcare delivery system will continue to suffer.

Furthermore, this is not an employer's marketplace. It is not now. It will not be in the near and long term. Employers need to learn faster and implement what they have learned rapidly to attract and retain quality healthcare professionals.

Translation, healthcare costs will continue to rise for many reasons. For the forseeable future, healthcare practitioners will continue to gain strength. Practitioners will command all aspects of employment from compensation, work load, work schedule, location, quality of life, etc.

Could you please take a look at www.freehospital.org and send in some suggestions? We consider your suggestions very valuable as this is an organization doing it's very best trying to promote global health, free of charge. Please feel free to criticize us as this will help us improve. Our funds go on charity. Thank you very much, keep well,
Yours,
freehosptial.org administrator...

Healthcare costs will continue to rise and healthcare practitioners will continue to gain strength. I very much agree.