FORT WORTH, Texas – A few years ago, hospitals were offering nurses $10,000 signing bonuses, loan payoffs, even cars as incentives to battle a nursing shortage in Texas.
Today, some nursing school graduates say they’re fortunate to find a job.
“It took me a year to find something, and it wasn’t easy,” said Ann Karl, who graduated in 2008 and recently went to work for Hugely Memorial Medical Center in Burleson, Texas. “I think I must have hit the curve right when the hospitals were starting to slow down on hiring.”
Karl is hardly alone.
Three years ago there were three job offers for every graduate, said Dr. Pamela Frable, director of nursing at Texas Christian University’s Harris College of Nursing and Health Sciences. But at graduation last summer, there were more students without a job than ever before.
A surge of applicants from nursing schools and from other states, as well as older nurses returning to the work force, has increased competition for jobs, especially at the area’s large hospitals.
Graduates are sending out hundreds of resumes, scouring hospital Web sites and bemoaning a crisis they never expected: a shortage of jobs in a profession once hailed as recession-proof.
Cassie Thompson left a career as a financial analyst to become a nurse only to start classes at TCU as rumors of hiring freezes at area hospitals were swirling.
“It was really scary last summer, having come from a job that I knew I would have a paycheck until I retired, to this,” said Thompson, who switched to nursing because she thought it would be more satisfying. “But some of my instructors have predicted that it will be better next year.”
Just a few years ago, the promise of job security, career satisfaction and a good salary attracted plenty of people from less stable fields.
Karl was one of them. After 15 years in banking, she turned to nursing. But when she finished her studies in Dallas and applied for an internship, the shortage of opportunities disappointed her.
“I thought it would be a slam dunk,” she said. “I love nursing, but one of the reasons I went into it was everyone needs lots of nurses.”
But many hospitals don’t need nurses straight out of school right now.
Medical Center of Arlington usually hires 15 to 20 new graduates for internships twice a year, said Judi Williams, president of organizational development. But this year, that was cut to nine.
“We’re still hiring, but because of economics, it makes more sense to look for experienced nurses than new graduates,” she said.
At Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth, a new medical/surgical residency program is attracting graduates to an area sometimes viewed as less glamorous than others such as neonatal intensive care, said Karen Robeano, chief nursing officer for the hospital. But the demand for positions was greater than the need.
“We had hundreds of applicants for 27 positions in June,” she said.
Experienced nurses from other states that have been hard hit by the recession have added to the surplus of job candidates. Area hospitals have hired from Oklahoma to as far away as Michigan.
That’s adding to the frustration of students.
“So many people are moving to Texas as new grads, it makes me afraid that they’ll take all the jobs before I can ever get out of school,” Thompson said.
Nurses were in high demand until the economy took a nose dive and people started postponing elective surgeries, said Bob Livonius, CEO of Medfinders, parent company of Arlington, Texas-based Nursefinders. Hospitals responded by cutting back on staff.
At the same time, economic woes have led experienced nurses to come out of retirement. Others who worked part time added hours. Nurses who were once quick to job-hop stayed put.
“All those factors led to a temporary Band-Aid for the nursing shortage,” he said.
Those in the nursing field say the problem is only temporary, and some students have had no problems finding jobs.
At the University of Texas-Arlington College of Nursing, 97 percent of graduates are finding jobs by the time they finish school, said Elizabeth Poster, dean of the nursing school. About 98 percent of graduates remain in North Texas working in hospitals and other health care settings.
But some graduates have to adjust their expectations and take positions in areas that are not their first choice, said Marinda Allender, director of undergraduate programs at TCU’s Harris College of Nursing and Health Sciences.
“They may have to decide to work weekends,” she said.
Almost half of all RNs work in settings other than hospitals, including community health, ambulatory care, nursing homes, schools, businesses and rural facilities, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.
Karl looked beyond the big hospitals in Dallas, where she lives, to find work more than 50 miles away in Burleson.
“If I have to go out of my way to get experience, it’s OK,” she said. “At this point I’m very thankful to have a job.”
Over the long term, the outlook for the nursing profession remains strong.
Between 2005 and 2020, the demand for nurses in Texas is expected to increase by 86 percent while supply grows only 53 percent, according to the Texas Center for Nursing Workforce Studies. Without more growth in the profession, Texas will be short about 71,000 full-time RNs by 2020.
The need for faculty members to teach the next generation of students is also high, and schools are encouraging graduates to get advanced degrees so they can teach or work in other areas.
A significant number of TCU students get advanced degrees as nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists, said Paulette Burns, dean of the Harris College of Nursing and Health Science.
UT-Arlington has tried to increase its faculty through its Master’s of Science Nurse Educator program.
As the population ages, the demand for nurses is only going to increase, Burns said.
“Health care reform is a wild card out there, but we can pretty well predict there are going to be a larger number of people who will be covered,” she said. “And there will be a need for more nurses.”
At the same time, as the work force ages, nurses will be retiring and leaving openings for newcomers, Poster said.
Thompson said she’s still confident it is the right career for her, even if it takes a little longer to find the job of her dreams.
“Nursing makes you thankful for what you have every day,” she said. “It’s one of the many reasons it’s a great career.”
