Editor’s Letter
Hello everyone! While I write this its a balmy 90 degrees here, but I noticed they are selling mums at the florists, childrens lunchboxes in the market, and they have applied fresh paint to the school crosswalks. Its hard to imagine, but the signs are here that summer is nearing its end. I hope you all had a wonderful summer and had the chance to take at least a few days to recharge yourselves. Also, just a reminder that we are still looking for submissions to our Nurse On The Go feature. If you would like to share an amusing or heartfelt story or just give our readers some insight into your life as a nurse, we would like to here from you. All submittals should be between 500 and 800 words. To submit a story, send an email with the subject line Nurses On The Go story submission to info@nurse-recruiter.com.
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Strong Future Demand for Nurses Looming Over the Recession Horizon
The current year-long economic recession took its toll on the nursing profession just like it did in all the other sectors of the economy. The Class of 2009 graduates of nursing schools, for example, are a bit disappointed to realize that it is now harder to land a top-paying job in many parts of the country.
But all this overshadows two facts:
1) The lax market demand for nurses is due to a combination of unique and temporary factors and not because the overall demand for nurses has dropped.
2) The whole health care industry is set up for an explosion in demand for nurses. Those nurses who prepare themselves for the upturn will be the ones profiting handsomely from this sure-to-come development.
The two temporary factors that contributed to sagging demand are (a) the way senior registered nurses have postponed their retirement, and (b) those that worked part-time previously have gone full-time to compensate for the drop in household incomes.
The statistics support this trend. Today the average age of a working nurse in California is 47, with 45 percent over the age of 50, according to the California Institute for Nursing and Health Care. More than 10 percent of the registered nurses working for Sutter Health Sacramento Sierra Region, for example, is over 60 years old.
What this means is very clear: as soon as the economy pulls itself together there will be a massive wave of retirements in the nursing community. Thousands of nurses who have postponed the decision will retire from the workforce in masse. That will suddenly create a huge demand for new nurses to fill in all those vacant positions.
There are two factors that would further exacerbate the need for more nurses in the near future.
The first is the retirement of the "Baby Boomers" who have reached their sixties.
The second factor is the Obama Administration's serious push to expand health care to the 46 million Americans who do not have any health coverage right now.
Both more Boomer retirees and more Americans with medical coverage would mean an increase in health care demand and thus the need for more nurses. The future trend is very clear. The experienced RNs who earn $90,000 or more a year currently can expect to make even more in the future.
The nurse shortages will be acute especially in large states and urban regions. In California, for example, there are now 647 registered nurses for every 100,000 people but for the U.S. as a whole the name number is 825 registered nurses per 100,000. That gap will be widening when the recession is over.
Again, take Chicago. A report from the Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council last year estimated that the Chicago area will need 3,000 new nurses a year through 2014, but it projected that only half that number will join the work force each year. That marks Chicago as a great metropolitan area to work for as a nurse once our current economic difficulties are over.
If you are a nurse or a nursing student the thing to do is not to severe your ties with the industry and get yourself ready for the demand upsurge ahead. And if you're an employer it'd pay to keep your resume file fresh and updated so that when the demand for nurses skyrocket and nurses become scarce to find you'd be in a better position to interview and hire the best nurses available out there.
Good times are ahead, right around the corner. And the nurses will be the first ones to benefit from that certain turn of events.
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Dealing with Burnout in the Nursing Profession
The recent economic woes have caused many professionals, including nurses, to delay retirement which in turn leads to an even greater risk of becoming burnt out in the profession. If we can recognize the warning signs of burnout, we can work towards bringing our life back into a healthy balance so that we are more at peace both emotionally and physically. The following are tips for dealing with burnout in the nursing profession.
Begin your day with a morning ritual such as mediation, journaling or stretching. Don’t overlook the importance of a good breakfast to help you get off to a good start in the morning. Often times too, we hit the alarm, and our mind fills up of all the demands of the day. Try to take even a few moments when you first awaken to take a few deep breaths and envision your “perfect” day as you would like it to go. There are no traffic jams, all your patients are pleasant and courteous and you even get a few moments to yourself at work to recharge.
Pay attention to your eating, sleeping and exercise habits. If you have not already done so, start up a routing of getting proper nutrition and exercise throughout your day and be sure to get plenty of rest. The proper combination of exercise, nutritious food, and rest will help recharge your daily battery and deal with unforeseen obstacles that can cause you stress.
Remember to take breaks, even if you can only fit in a few 10 minute breaks during the day to grab a cup of coffee and recharge. Review your day so far and all the positive things that you have accomplished as well as all the things that went well instead of focusing on things that might not have been positive.
Managing stress involves being able to say no when you really need to which can be tough at first. The caregiving nature is at the root of all nurses as they give of themselves physically, emotionally and spiritually all day long. Try to maintain some control over your day by saying no and setting boundaries as best you can.
Reassess your current place of employment. Perhaps you need a break from your permanent nursing position, something to get you away from the corporate politics of the hospitals. This might be a good time to try travel nursing or consider changing careers to go into teaching and prepare the nurses of tomorrow.
Sometimes just being able to open up to family and friends helps alleviate stress. Avoid isolating yourself. By sharing your problems and feelings with them, your family and friends can have a profound effect on your feelings of burnout as you are able to get some things off your chest and release that tension.
Before you make any rash decisions, think about why it is you wanted to become a nurse. It’s because you care. Helping patients learn how to care for themselves and getting them back on their feet as well as being able to take the time to interact with them and answer questions is a vital part to nursing care.
Sometimes though, the day is so rushed and after dealing with short staffing and extra patient loads its not uncommon to miss out on having those special moments with patients you treasure. The human connection nurses make with their patients is so important. Tuning into those times where you have an extra moment to listen, make eye contact and really connect with a patient is a bonus to both nurse and patient. Taking the time to notice these moments you are connecting and providing a real value to your profession will help to bring you more peace and be more aware of the difference you are making.
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