Calling all nurses:
Have we got a job for you . . .

by Susan Trossman, RN

Catch the want ads lately? Hospitals nationwide are clamoring for registered nurses -- trying to entice them with incentives ranging from $5,000 sign-on bonuses to on-site child care to 50 percent off cafeteria food. One Virginia hospital recently ran an ad touting its "highly supportive, warm environment, where people take time out to care about YOU."

But while nursing employment incentives may abound, the number of RNs available and willing to take advantage of them is flagging. In some areas of the country, the nursing shortage is looming. In other parts, it has definitely arrived -- particularly for specialty areas like the OR, ER, ICU and L&D.

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Flu! Ice! Snow!
It's all in a day's work

The year 2000 came in like a lion in the nation's capital. First there was the flu that sent residents in droves to local ERs and health clinics. Then came the nor-easter, which dumped as much as 24 inches of snow in some suburban areas, followed by an ice storm several days later on Superbowl Sunday.

Throughout it all, registered nurses were on hand to immunize, hydrate, assess, treat and comfort patients for hours on end until much-needed relief arrived -- in the form of more registered nurses.

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NY faces RN shortage in specialties
NYSNA measures take aim at overall supply

A study commissioned by the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) on the state's registered nurse workforce shows that a nursing shortage not only already exists within specialty areas, but it also threatens to affect the general RN supply.

"Without a stable RN workforce, we cannot hope to meet a goal of quality health care for all New Yorkers," said Karen Ballard, RN, director of NYSNA's Practice and Governmental Affairs program. "We conducted this study to get a picture of the current and future trends in nursing employment. We learned that unless we take swift and effective action, we are likely to confront another RN shortage like the one that plagued the health care system in the late 1980s."

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