Published: June 20, 2009 10:57 pm      

America to see shortage of health care professionals

Local hospital looking for nurses

A nationwide shortage of health care professionals, especially nurses, is beginning to surface and can be taken advantage of by those left in the wake of economic crisis.

“Over the next 20 years, the average age of the RN will increase and the size of the workforce will plateau as large numbers of RNs retire. Because demand for RNs is expected to increase during this time, a large and prolonged shortage of nurses is expected to hit the US in the latter half of the next decade,” said workforce analyst Dr. Peter Buerhaus in the November 26, 2008, Journal of the American Medical Association.

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing recently reported that in March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed the health care sector of the American economy was continuing to grow, despite steep job losses in nearly all major industries. Hospitals, long-term care facilities, and other ambulatory care settings added 27,000 new jobs in February 2009, a month when 681,000 jobs were eliminated nationwide. As the largest segment of the health care workforce, nurses will likely be recruited fill a large portion of these new positions.

There are about six nursing (or nurse-related) positions open now at Pattie A. Clay (PAC) Regional Medical Center, and Jill Cornelison, PAC’s chief nursing officer and vice president of patient services, said she is accepting applications every day.

It is uncertain as to when the number of job openings will increase or decrease, she said.

“If today we don’t need you, that may change next week,” she said.

PAC is an acute-care hospital that is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“Nurses are in the hospital every day, every minute,” Cornelison said.

Because of that reason, the availability to work nights and weekends could make an candidate much more valuable, she said.

“I can remember 20 to 25 years ago, you could never expect a day-time job (in the nursing field),” she said.

Another thing for potential employees to consider is that the majority of the nursing staff at the hospital will be between the ages of 40 and 45 by 2010.

“In a few years, there are going to be a lot of people retiring,” she said.

Like any job, there are busier times than others, but the persistence and patience pays off.

“There is a wonderful feeling of being rewarded,” she said. “It is such a rewarding job that it always makes up for stressful situations.”

Passion and dedication are very important for a nurse to have, along with the proper level of education.

According to Cornelison, nurses should have “... a passion to do the very best and keep the patients first and dedication to persevere the positive and negatives of caring for ill people.”

Applications can be completed online at www.pattieaclay.org, or call 623-3131.

Ronica Shannon can be reached at rshannon@richmondregister.com or 624-6608.