Dallas’ Parkland Memorial Hospital was $5.3 million over budget in June, a consequence of fewer births, more charity care, and a nursing shortage that is forcing one of the largest public hospitals in the nation to rely on travel nurses and temps to supplement its professional staff.
In The Dallas Morning News, Ron Laxton, Parkland’s interim chief operating officer, said registered nurses, particularly those specializing in surgery and emergency care, are difficult to hire and retain.
All across the U.S., hospitals, clinics, skilled nursing facilities, and even doctor’s offices are feeling the pinch of too few nurses. Nursing schools may churning out new grads in near record numbers, but until these novice nurses gain the experience most hiring managers demand, shortages will continue. However, many experts predict it will be years before the nation has enough trained, experienced RNs to fill all the jobs expected to be created in the next several years, a consequence of the new national heath insurance requirement, millions of aging Baby Boomers, and too few primary care physicians.
What appeared to be a flattening of demand in 2012 extending into the early part of this year was nothing more than a temporary breather, likely brought on by federal budget woes and, first the so-called fiscal cliff, and then sequestration.
Now, hiring demand for Registered Nurses has resumed its upward climb, says Wanted Analytics, which aggregates and tabulates millions of job postings across the U.S. Just last week Wanted reported that “Registered Nurses remain the most in-demand job in the US.”
There were some 288,000 nursing jobs available in June, says Wanted, 40,000 more than for the next, most in-demand jobs, retail sales.
Wanted’s geographic analysis of demand says Las Vegas, the nation’s gambling capital, may be the toughest place in the country to hire a nurse. Dallas ranked 10th. Atlanta also made the list.