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Printer-Friendly ModeNursing demand should hold
October 26, 2009 —
A year ago, securing a job after graduation wasn’t something Courtney Kotewa lost sleep over. The nursing student had committed to St. Mary’s Hospital a couple months before donning her cap and gown.
A summer externship spent shadowing a nurse in the hospital’s critical care unit had been key, easing her transition from student to full-time nurse and taking the “hunt” out of “job hunt” to Kotewa’s satisfaction.
“Most of what prepared me was my externship. I got comfortable applying the skills I learned at SVSU,” said Kotewa, who is now approaching the one-year anniversary of launching her career in Saginaw.
A year later, tougher financial times have been a bit of a game changer for those entering the profession.
Health agencies are freezing positions, and an aging nursing population has many who are ripe for retirement holding onto their jobs to weather the economic storm.
The most recent survey from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2004 showed the average age of registered nurses rising to 46.8.
“It’s entirely possible that graduates are going to have to put some effort into finding a job,” said Janalou Blecke, Dean of the Crystal M. Lange College of Health & Human Services.
Rookie nurses may find they need to work multiple part-time jobs to begin with or tap into better markets outside the state.
But the long-term scenario is anything but bleak for future nursing grads, Blecke says.
“We still have a shortage (of nurses),” she said. “But it’s more future tense than present.”
An inevitable retirement surge and a growing need for healthcare professionals across the board mean one thing for sure: more job openings are on the horizon.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook suggests growth will continue at a “much faster than average” pace through 2016.
Developments in technology result in a population that lives longer and undergoes more treatment. Healthcare workers can treat ailments that research has demystified over time, and the treatment is getting better.
The economic slump hasn’t coaxed the nursing department into tapering enrollment, nor has it dissuaded students from competing for the 64 spots the program offers each semester. Total enrollment has risen to 362 from 245 since 2005.
“Those who see the bigger picture know you don’t need to lower enrollment, because people are still going to retire,” Blecke said.
The number of students the program accepts primarily hinges on the amount of available clinical locations — sites where students apply their textbook knowledge to real patient situations from geriatrics facilities to mental health wards to emergency rooms.
Competition to get into the program rolls over into competition for summer externships as students near graduation.
Externships place upperclassmen in paid positions where they add to their hours interacting with patients in a real hospital setting — experience that made all the difference for Kotewa and Brandon Sawyer, a 2007 nursing graduate who works in the electrophysiology lab at Bay Regional Medical Center.
Sawyer’s two years as a Bay Regional extern opened career doors and boosted his confidence on the job.
“I don’t think it was necessarily hard,” Sawyer said of transitioning from student to nurse. “I felt prepared from having an externship and going through clinicals.”
The competition for externships has increased as nursing programs statewide fill up.
Elizabeth Roe, an associate professor of nursing, estimates that about half of SVSU students have had externships by the time they graduate, traveling as far as the Mayo Clinic for the experience.
As Kotewa and Brandon demonstrate, “These positions not only are helpful for the experience but often lead to positions after they graduate,” Roe said.
Beth Neehleder caught wind of this advantage as a junior and applied for a pre-externship last summer at Covenant HealthCare.
“We have such limited clinical hours through our classes,” the now senior said. “It’s best to have all the extra experience you can get.”
Neehleder plans to graduate in December 2010 and will apply to be an extern for her final summer as a college student. She wants to work in the mental health field and wouldn’t mind traveling to begin her career.
Nursing students and professionals nationwide may potentially feel the effects of healthcare reform measures, the conversations of which are still moving through Congress.
“Change like that is going to have effects,” Blecke said. “You can never drop a pebble in a pond and not have ripples.”
It’s too early to predict in which direction health care will go, Blecke and Roe agree.
But the role of a nurse “will be much more important in a system that focuses on prevention and health promotion,” Roe said.
If reform includes principles of better access and better quality, Blecke said, “It should have a good outcome and it will have an impact.”