These are the stats that rarely make it to the mainstream media, because, well, they’re so boring. And they imply that there is really something wrong in healthcare. It is like, so much more politically correct to scream about the nursing shortage being caused by old geezer nurses who are reaching retirement age, and the “need” to mass produce new ones. You know, if only we can get those scholarships in place, that’ll bring in new blood and keep it on the job for the next 40 years.

This data is from 2002, so it’s going on five years old. However, I can only imagine that the numbers have gotten higher than what is written here, considering that working conditions are progressively getting worse and not better.

From the University of Pennsylvania:

In one of the most far-reaching studies of the current state of nursing, a University of Pennsylvania researcher has discovered that newly minted nurses are leaving the profession at far faster rates than their predecessors, suggesting that the current shortage of nurses may reach crisis proportions sooner than anticipated.

One additional surprising finding is that beginning male nurses are leaving the profession at twice the rate of women. The research, which analyzes data from the National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses collected by the Division of Nursing in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 1992, 1996 and 2000, is reported today in the influential health care policy journal Health Affairs.

“The study indicates that new nurses begin their careers with higher levels of job satisfaction, but the workplace itself seems to be convincing growing numbers to leave the bedside earlier in their careers for other professions,” said Julie Sochalski, Ph.D., RN, associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. “We know the nation is facing a shortfall of nurses. If new RNs are leaving the profession after only a few years, the shortage is likely to reach crisis proportions sooner rather than later.”

As baby boomers age, thus increasing demands on the health care system, the median age of nurses is rising toward retirement. The U.S. Department of Labor predicts a shortfall of 331,000 nurses by 2008, leading to national recruitment efforts. However, Dr. Sochalski found that nearly 136,000 nurses are working in other professions, suggesting policy makers should turn their attention to nurse retention as well as the current emphasis on recruitment.

Specifically, the research found that:

o in the most recent nurse survey, 7.5 percent of new male nurses dropped out of nursing within four years of graduating from nursing school, compared to 4 percent of women;

o the dropout rate for both male and female new graduates is accelerating, rising from 2 percent of men in 1992 to 7.5 percent in 2000; and 2.7 percent of women in 1992 to 4.1 percent in 2000;

o among new nurses, 75 percent of women reported being satisfied with their jobs compared to only 67 percent of men; among more established nurses 69 percent of women and 60 percent of men were satisfied.

“One might predict that this new cohort of nurses may be destined to see their satisfaction levels sag over time, which, depending on the market conditions, may influence decisions to continue in their position or to leave nursing entirely,” Dr. Sochalski reports in Health Affairs. “The accelerating rate of loss in the supply of nurses, at a time of substantially increasing demand, underscores the need to determine the reasons for the exodus. And while men may not yet comprise a sizable number of the total who are leaving, the growth in their retreat from nursing is nonetheless concerning.”

There are an estimated 500,000 nurses who are no longer working in nursing. Sochalski only mentions the ones who are working full time in other professions (about 136,000–that number has gone up). Almost 20% of all registered nurses no longer work in nursing, and while some are retired, many are back in school, some have opened businesses, or are working part time in other jobs. But the fact that 136,000 are working full time in jobs completely removed from nursing is an eye opener. Do you think that the “poor image” of nurses in the media has driven these people out of nursing? Or that if the shortage of nursing instructors can be remedied, all of these nurses will come running back to hospital jobs?