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Nurses Needed in War and Peace By Joyce Lain Kennedy Dear Joyce: The examples of a united rescue effort in recent days make me proud to be an American. I am a college sophomore thinking about career choices. What can you tell me about nursing? -- M.S.T. Dear M.S.T.: Nurses are front and center in the heroism ranks, along with firefighters, police officers and other valiant rescue workers. Nurses in New York, New Jersey, the District of Columbia and Virginia responded instantly on Sept. 11, expecting large numbers of casualties but, tragically, receiving too few. Many states offered to bus in nurses to help. And nurses across the country volunteered to support the disaster relief efforts in numerous ways, ranging from blood drives to providing grief counseling to distraught Americans. Nurses have proven again and again their compassion in conflict and in calm. Their value has never been in doubt, but their availability now is. A dangerous national shortage -- possibly the biggest of all time -- of registered nurses is shaping up, causing emergency-room closures, delays of elective surgery and increasing the risk of medical mistakes. Code Blue The current cyclical shortfall began as a spot shortage of skills, experiences and competencies aggravated by geographic misdistribution. Highlighted: Such specialty areas as critical care, operating room, neonatal intensive care and emergency care. Now the shortage has widened to a head count -- too few nurses period. Why?
Nurses are also aging. The average of an RN is now 45. Half of RNs will reach retirement age within 15 years.
Pay Rising Financial compensation for nurses varies by geography, type of nursing, years of experience and level of education. The shortage is driving nursing salaries up, especially among more experienced nurses. Starting salaries for entry-level nurses range from $30,000 to $45,000, plus additional pay for evening, night and weekend shifts. Bennies include the usual and often college tuition reimbursement, childcare, flexible scheduling and pension plans. Clinical nurse specialists and those with advanced degrees earn considerably higher pay. Signing bonuses of as much as $15,000 in a Florida hospital show the competitiveness of the job market, although $5,000 to $10,000 is more common. Vital Problems Nurses are more likely to form unions than in eras gone by, not only to negotiate for more money, but because of working conditions. Some nurses are burning out under the stress of mandatory overtime and absurdly long shifts, such as 16 hours. Others typically care for 10 patients at a time, about double the ideal nurse-to-patient ratio. Suggested Cures Suggestions embodied in several pieces of federal legislation introduced earlier this year include increased educational grants for students and nursing educational facilities and loans with forgiveness provisions for serving in areas of greatest need. The legislation has yet to be enacted. Health executives are speaking out -- and being heard -- on the need for raises and better working conditions. Educational Pathways RNs must first graduate from a nursing program to be eligible to take the nurse licensure examination. Choose from three types of nursing programs:
Action Steps Here are three Web sites to help you open the door to a nursing career: National League for Nursing; American Association of Colleges of Nursing; American Nurses Association. Nursing can be a soul-satisfying choice if caregiving is what you like to do. America needs you, and we need to treat you well and pay you fairly. We need to help you get a good education in preparation for your caregiving -- and the more education the better. As United American Nurses union leader Cheryl Johnson has said: "I'm the one running industrial-strength drugs into your body." ©2001 Tribune Media Services, Inc.
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