Younger Nurses are Struggling
While working with a nurse the other day, we got on the topic of nursing. After leaving nursing for 3 years, and then getting back into the field, I always ask nurses what they “want to be when they grow up”, or “what they see themselves doing in 10-15 years”. It is sad, but most of the bedsides nurses I ask that question to say, “Not Nursing” “Nurse Practitioner” “Own a Business” or mention a different area of nursing outside of the bedside.
This particular nurse I spoke with, graduated during COVID, and started working in the ER. Got some time under her belt and ultimately made a killing as a travel nurse. As the contract rates have come down, so have the number of nurses going to travel roles like her.
We somehow started talking about what our spouses did, and I mentioned how my wife was finishing her NP program in the spring. Her husband had a work from home “cushy” job making 100k+.
It got us talking even more about the “allure” of nursing, and how it is starting to be lost. Many young people do not want to work three 12-hour shifts making hourly wages, when there are jobs out there paying the same to work from home. Even many of my family members have worked as nurses for a lifetime and starting to get fatigued from it. This is a nursing crisis that only so much money can fix.
If you were to double the income of a nurse right now, it would significantly help morale, work ethic, and people coming into the career.
Right now, nursing is viewed more as a steppingstone to a “greater” career (sales, NP, CRNA, leadership, etc.) than a terminal career. This is a very big healthcare issues.
Many nurses are retiring and aging out of the field, while simultaneously boomers are retiring in droves. So, the aging population will soon outnumber the younger populations of the nursing workforce.
Nursing can be a great career, and most people getting into the field genuinely want to help others. Nurses need to be fairly compensated, and that is something that needs to change, or otherwise younger nurses will continue to strive for more money, less hours, and less stress.
