Is There a Nursing Shortage???

An acquaintance recently asked me this and for the record YES there is a shortage of qualified nurses!!! The reason for this is quite obtuse and multi-layered but I'll break it down for ya.

1. Nursing workforce is aging out

That's right, you read correctly. Most of our nursing workforce is aging out or opting to retire early because of mandates for all nurses to obtain a BSN. Many talented nurses are diploma nurses or associates degree nurses like myself who are in their golden years and not willing or able to stare down completing a degree for a job that they've been qualified to do for so long. I can't say that I blame them. Unfortunately, this leaves a huge gap of experienced nurses to train new nurses and leaves new nurses a very steep learning curve. 

2. Our elderly population continues to grow

That's right, baby boomers and their cohorts are continuing to encompass more and more of the population and many of them have chronic health issues that need to be managed. 

3. Obamacare/HCAHPS

Ah my favorite subject. With the revamping of our healthcare system hospitals are now forced to consider ahead of all other things "patient experience." Every hospital is subject to the dreaded HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems). Basically it wants patients to rate their stay as if they were in a 5-star hotel. That being said-I'm all for quality of care and for quality improvements but to base our reimbursement on someone rating us an 8 instead of a 10?? Come on man!!!!!

So to everyone out their who wonders why your nurse may look like she's being run to death, please be gentle and kind because she probably is and she is doing it because it's what she loves. At least that is the case for me. 

Welcome to The Struggle!

Hello Blog World. My name is Amber and I'm a new nurse. RN to be specific since nurse is a rather all encompassing title. I guess I should start at the beginning.....

Me and my Pop ca. 1981? He always knew!

So when I was younger, my Dad always told me: "Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life." Well sadly for me, I'm a late bloomer and I like to do things in reverse order. I am the daughter of a 1st generation Filipino American son and a brassy opinionated woman. Together they created a golden child First grandchild, oldest everything, trendsetter and standard bearer. To say that I had a lot of hopes and dreams heaped on my shoulders would be an understatement. My family set me up to be an overachiever. I learned to read at 4. My first language was not English but my native Tagalog. I could recite the Pledge of Allegiance (for money) at 4 too. I was a little firecracker who was groomed to light the world on fire as a Doctor or Lawyer (my choice obvs). As a teenager I dabbled in mediocrity and found that there was a sweet victory in thumbing my nose at the hopes and dreams my family had planned for me. I did graduate with honors. I was in Who's Who Among American High School Students (1994-1995 edition!) and was accepted at WVU to their class of 2001! I had other plans......

I got pregnant, got married and hand a son (almost 18!). I got divorced, was a single mom for awhile, dabbled in odd jobs and met my 2nd husband in 2000. We had a daughter in 2002 and married in 2003. We continued to expand our family with a son in 2004 and our last baby-a boy in 2009. I dabbled in more odd jobs and was a stay at home mom for many years. In 2011, spurred on by a bad year for my husband's company, I found a job as a medical office receptionist and in it discovered my passion. Nursing. They cross trained me to be a medical assistant and in 2012 at the behest of my Aunt Pitty, I started my first college classes to become a RN. 

In May 2013, after two 4.0 semesters I was accepted into a nursing program. In May 2015, I would finally realize my DREAMS! Only problem was that I was 34 years old starting a new career. My children were in school and activities and I was having issues in my marriage that would eventually lead to it's demise in my 2nd year of nursing school. 

In May 2015 I graduated Magna Cum Laude from my nursing program with a 3.799999 GPA (almost 3.8 and Summa). I was 36, a single mom of 4 and ready to begin this next chapter. 

I took my boards in June. I passed in 75 questions (go me!). I then got offered a job at a hospital on a medical surgical unit and this is where it gets interesting............

So stay tuned for tales of my adventures (and misadventures) navigating the world of nursing, one day at a time!

Thanks for reading if you got this FAR!!!!!!

Amber

RN, Daughter, Mom, Friend, Advocate, Nerd