Being in the Nursing Workforce: Words of Second-Career Nurses 5 Years After Graduation

Abstract

Nurses make up the largest proportion of health care workers in most health care organizations. However since the late 1990s, hospitals have been reporting a significant shortage of registered nurse (RN) staff. 1 Buerhaus P Staiger DO Auerbach DI The Future of the Nursing Workforce in the United States: Data, Trends and Implications. Jones and Bartlett, Boston, MA2008 Google Scholar The national data forecast from the Bureau of Health Professions projects a national shortage of RNs that will surpass 1 million full-time equivalent positions by 2020. 2 Bureau of Health Professions, Health Resources and Services Administration The Registered Nurse Population: Findings From the 2004 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses. US Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC2007http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/healthworkforce/rnsurveys/rnsurveyfinal.pdf Google Scholar The RN shortage problem is 2-fold: the number of new nurses being graduated and the number of nurses leaving positions in the nursing workforce. The introduction of the accelerated second-degree program in nursing was a potential solution for the first problem by providing a quick route to a career in nursing for individuals with a degree in another field and prior work experience. Although data from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses provide evidence that accelerated second-degree programs are graduating an increasing number of nurses, there are no data about these nurses’ perceptions about being a nurse after being in the nursing workforce or their perception of their job as a nurse. 3 American Association of Colleges of Nursing Fact sheet: accelerated baccalaureate and master's degrees in nursing. American Association of Colleges of Nursing, Washington, DC2010 Google Scholar Consequently, it is not known whether these graduates are enjoying their new professional avocation or are experiencing frustration as they become part of the nursing workforce. Nurses make up the largest proportion of health care workers in most health care organizations. However since the late 1990s, hospitals have been reporting a significant shortage of registered nurse (RN) staff. 1 Buerhaus P Staiger DO Auerbach DI The Future of the Nursing Workforce in the United States: Data, Trends and Implications. Jones and Bartlett, Boston, MA2008 Google Scholar The national data forecast from the Bureau of Health Professions projects a national shortage of RNs that will surpass 1 million full-time equivalent positions by 2020. 2 Bureau of Health Professions, Health Resources and Services Administration The Registered Nurse Population: Findings From the 2004 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses. US Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC2007http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/healthworkforce/rnsurveys/rnsurveyfinal.pdf Google Scholar The RN shortage problem is 2-fold: the number of new nurses being graduated and the number of nurses leaving positions in the nursing workforce. The introduction of the accelerated second-degree program in nursing was a potential solution for the first problem by providing a quick route to a career in nursing for individuals with a degree in another field and prior work experience. Although data from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses provide evidence that accelerated second-degree programs are graduating an increasing number of nurses, there are no data about these nurses’ perceptions about being a nurse after being in the nursing workforce or their perception of their job as a nurse. 3 American Association of Colleges of Nursing Fact sheet: accelerated baccalaureate and master's degrees in nursing. American Association of Colleges of Nursing, Washington, DC2010 Google Scholar Consequently, it is not known whether these graduates are enjoying their new professional avocation or are experiencing frustration as they become part of the nursing workforce.