Ming

Ming is five years old today! Happy Birthday Ming!

Nursing Shortage

The average age of nurses is fast approaching 50! I'm 50 (still can't wrap my mind around that!) so I'm in the statistical cohort exactly.

On reading some articles about the issue of a huge number of nurses approaching retirement or moving to jobs away from the bedside, and not enough new nurses to take their place, it seems a general consensus that retention of the older nurses is a hot topic.

The big buzz is that older nurses are actually more valuable right now (and probably always have been) due to their wealth of knowledge and experience. Given that fact, employers should be looking to increase wages for the experienced nurses as a means of retention. Wouldn't that be great!

But alas, the economy is not cooperating at the moment.

What will happen when more and more experienced nurses leave the bedside? I hate to even speculate. I don't think I need to spell it out.

What about recruitment of younger nurses? How many are entering the profession now?

I read an abstract of a study done on young people's perception of Nursing. It boils down to this: "The majority of young people make a career choice without regard for salary, and base their decision on interest and enjoyment or a desire to help people. The findings indicate that although young people expressed admiration for the work of nurses, this was rarely matched by an envy of nurses, or a desire to become a nurse themselves." Career desirability: young people's perceptions of nursing as a career." (Hemsley-Brown & Foskett.)

Interesting. Obviously work needs to be done to promote a better, more enviable portrait of Nursing as a career. I'd like to see that. Truly, the image of Nursing as a profession by the general public is woefully skewed and fraught with stereotyping.

As a profession, I'd say we'd do well to focus on these issues with more gusto. Or else.....we'll see this decline -

Ironically, it's even difficult to find a non-stereotypical image of the Nursing decline.

Karma

I had a thought as I drove home from work last night. The notion that flew into my head was that nurses must have had bad karma in their previous lives.

I mean, look at what we do for a living.

I had to catheterize several patients yesterday. Putting a tube into someone's urethra can hardly be catagorized as fun.

I've had to give enemas countless times, dress wounds that could make any normal person run out of the room in horror, lift and carry patients from one place to another, suction gunk from mouths and throats, and the list goes on.

But, then again, maybe it's not bad karma in a previous life, but good karma.



Though, I must say, I've never had my hand kissed. *grin*