Some new grads are happy to be offered an unpaid internship. That's because fewer nurses are retiring during the recession, and hospitals are saving money by turning to veteran or temporary nurses who don't need expensive training.
California has spent at least $95 million in federal, state and private funds in the past decade to double the number of nursing graduates by expanding college programs and grants. As recently as three years ago, hospitals were offering moving expenses, housing allowances, and signing bonuses to recent graduates of nursing schools.
But today, some new grads are happy to be offered an unpaid internship. That's because fewer nurses are retiring during the recession, and hospitals are saving money by turning to veteran or temporary nurses who don't need expensive training.
Hospitals have since sought ways to reduce spending in part by opting to hire veteran or temporary nurses who do not need as much training.
Newly trained nurses generally cannot secure employment without having one or two years of experience, and they have taken part-time and volunteer positions to gain experience.
Registered nurses are the largest class of employees at hospitals, though the federal health care reform law might shift many nurses into other facilities as they follow patients pushed to seek more appropriate care.
In the past, nurses often switched hospitals for better pay. But turnover rates have dropped by half since the recession began, according to human resources officers at several California hospitals.
A growing number of nursing school graduates are frustrated, though, because hospitals still need some nurses but are relying on outside sources to meet state-mandated nurse-to-patient ratios.
The Conference Board's October report about job postings nationwide on 1,200 major websites said there were 2.6 jobs available for every job-seeker in the "health care practitioners and technical occupations" category.
The problem for recent graduates is that a facility might hire one new nurse for every two veterans it recruits from retirement, other hospitals, temp agencies or within.
"What's disturbing is that there's an obvious need for health care providers, but the industry is not interested in spending more money on new graduate nurses," said Liz Jacobs, a spokeswoman for the California Nurses Association.
Timothy Bates -- a program analyst at the Center for the Health Professions at UC-San Francisco -- said the demand for hiring new nurses will return during the next decade as the economy improves and baby boomers retire.
Bates added that demand for more nurses will grow as more residents gain coverage under the federal health reform law.
He noted that the existing oversupply of nurses could exacerbate a possible nursing shortage in the future if the profession loses its appeal because people cannot find jobs in the industry (Dave, Sacramento Bee, 12/4).
Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/12/04/4097980/new-california-nursing-graduates.html#ixzz1fgWOYOqB
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