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PBS Newshour

Question: As a health care professional, I’m fed up with the “talent shortage.” If there’s a shortage, why do nurses like me also work as waitresses, and make more than we could make nursing, which I’m certified in? I also have a college degree, because I was told it was a necessity to compete today. One interview after another is a waste of time, with HR telling me I look good and to expect a callback that never comes. I got a couple of actual offers and one contract assignment, but I could walk dogs and make more. Hospitals just wait for somebody who will work for peanuts. And they are rude. My dream was to build a good career as a nurse and to get paid. Does anybody want to hire a registered nurse for a living wage?

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PewTrusts.org

HOUSTON — The skyscrapers at the Texas Medical Center are filled with hospital beds. The commuters waiting in the heat for the train wear scrubs. The young woman dodging traffic on a bicycle may be studying to be a doctor, a nurse or a dentist. Houston is known for its energy jobs, but registered nurses are the most in-demand workers in town. “Whatever jobs we have, we keep expanding. And our competitors are doing the same,” said Thomas Vernon, a human resources director for Houston Methodist, which has a large hospital at the medical complex here. Last year the health system hired about 1,200 nurses across its seven hospitals.

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FierceHealthcare.com

In theory it should be easy for hospitals and health systems to hire nurses. Despite a shortage of nurses in the health workforce, there is a growing pool of potential candidates to fill open slots. Yet it can take healthcare organizations as long as 50 days to hire a registered nurse. There are several reasons for the hiring delays, according to an article from The Pew Charitable Trusts. Many hospitals and healthcare systems seek out nursing job applicants with a bachelor’s degree or other advanced degrees, as well as work experience. Yet in some states, many nurses entering the workforce may need only their nursing license to apply for jobs. In states like New York, for instance, registered nurses outnumber the available positions, so providers have raised the bar and now require a bachelor’s degree, as Jean Moore, director of the Center for Health Workforce Studies at the University of Albany, told Pew.

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