Candidates ignore doctor, nurse

Candidates ignore doctor, nurse

www.upi.com

SAN DIEGO, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- No matter who is elected the next U.S. president any effort to increase access to healthcare will be hampered by a doctor and nurse shortage, a report warns.

AMN Healthcare, a U.S. healthcare staffing company, reviewed the healthcare reform proposals of seven leading presidential candidates from both parties.

None of the candidates have yet proposed initiatives to increase physician and nurse supply to meet current staffing shortages, or address the increased need for healthcare services that would arise under a reformed system increasing access to care, the report said.

The United States currently needs 120,000 nurses, and the deficit is projected to be at least 350,000 by 2020.

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
archives.cnn.com
www.cbsnews.com
www.nurseweek.com
abcnews.go.com

This is a serious matter and why it hasn't been brought to the forefront before now I don't know. I can't speak for the doctor shortage other than in the areas of the country I'm familiar with, where I live or have family, but we definitely have a shortage of doctors in New Mexico, Arizona and parts of Washington state and Georgia - the Valdosta area. Perhaps a shortage of doctors isn't the right way of putting it, but a shortage of doctors taking new patients or a shortage of doctors that can get see you in less than 2-3 months.

Nursing is something both my daughter and I have had first hand experience with. We both tried to make a switch from our current line of work to nursing and found there was a 3 year waiting list in New Mexico as well as Arizona, and a 2-3 year waiting list in Colorado...that's just to get into the school of nursing. We were told there were not enough instructors.

I would love to hear the thoughts of those in other parts of the country.

These additional links go back as far as 2001 - so the shortage has been well publicized and shouldn't catch lawmakers by surprise. They don't seem to be acting on the information though.

www.upi.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

If I could afford medical school, i would have went. But since it costs nearly 100 grand to become a doctor, it's almost futile.

The candidates are indeed ignoring a doctor.

Dr. Ron Paul who wishes to remedy the situation with a dose of constitution.

Can anyone tell me why schools are not graduating more nurses, pharmD's etc?
Whats the deal??

Originally posted by deadjed
Can anyone tell me why schools are not graduating more nurses, pharmD's etc?
Whats the deal??

As I nurse myself I can address the nursing side of the equation:

1) Nursing schools are expensive to run. Even for a 2 year program some of the classes have a student to teacher ratio of 10 to 1 which is almost unheard of in public education systems. The liability insurance for a program is also expensive. A 4 year program is even more expensive.

2) People do not want to do it. Its a tough job. The hours esp if you do not have seniority are crummy. A new grad nurse can expect to work nights or rotate nights to days for years before you can find a stable day shift.

3) Most but not all hospitals have a management team thats right out of a Dilbert cartoon. Im not joking. That adds tons of stress.

4) Wages. They are pretty low except in a few high demand areas. The highest wages int eh US are located in the SF Bay Area where a new grad starts out 9at my hospital at least) in the 35-37 range per hour base. But then again homes in the 600000 to 1 million range so its relative

5) Working conditions: long hours understaffed, nights, weekends and holidays.

You have to work every other weekend in most cases and once in 10 years my wife and I were both off for Xmas.

I can relate to what FredT is saying.

My sister and next door neighbor are nurses and my close friend just finished med school (and she's in her late 40's) and they have some of the same complaints.

My daughter and I were told by the administration at the University of New Mexico Nursing school that there weren't enough instructors and that's why the waiting list was so long. I come from a police and film background so unfavorable hours are not an issue with me but the waiting list was 3 years. When I debated on whether or not to get on the list the woman told me the list would only get longer. Since 2001 she's only seen the list go down by maybe 3-5% - though she didn't tell me what the exact numbers were.

My sister is a dialysis nurse in Southern California and she works constantly. She's on call every other weekend and she can count on being called out at least three times. Last time we spoke about it she was making $250.00 an hour as soon as her feet hit the floor while on call. That's crazy. Good for her...but still crazy.

Thanks OP for bringing this to our attention. Flagged.

reply to post by deadjed


Its the hospital and the university's fault. If it were not for the long hours and the BS internship where they pay Penny's for allot of work from you then the job would be very good. Schooling is outrageous. The price just for the books is criminal. My girlfriend just applied to nursing school at a major university she attends and they say its hard to get accepted however she is very smart and I know she will get in. She wants to be a doctor but she don't want to be in school forever. I already told her that I'm not going to put up with her having a job working crazy hours but she wants to go for the nurse practitioner level so I'm sure she could find a decent job at a doctors office with normal hours.

[edit on 25-1-2008 by Sky watcher]