Filling the Nursing Void

Las Vegas nursing jobs are in abundance, but there doesn’t seem to be enough qualified workers to fill the available positions. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the state of Nevada as a whole ranked No. 49 in the nation for its number of nurses.

The report found that there are only 604 nurses for every 100,000 residents, which is drastically lower than the national average of 825 nurses for every 100,000 individuals. Robert Mains, a research analyst for New York based investment brokerage Morgan Keegan, said that Las Vegas has less nurses than most other areas in Nevada.

Mains went on to say that Las Vegas nursing jobs aren’t the only ones in the industry that are difficult to fill. According to him, “Las Vegas has traditionally had shortages of everything, even nurse aides.” Because of this, employers continue to raise salaries in hopes of attracting workers.

Not only do those with Las Vegas nursing jobs receive larger base salaries as an incentive, but they also have many opportunities to work overtime. Due to the fact that may hospitals and care facilities simply cannot hire enough staff members, the only way to keep patient care standards up to regulations is to allow willing nurses to take on extra shifts and be paid accordingly.

The number of Las Vegas nursing jobs is only going to continue to grow, according to Beth Ludden, senior vice president of Genworth Financial’s long-term care insurance office. She says that the industry needs 200,000 new workers every year in order to keep up with the number of aging baby boomers.

As it is, area schools can not train enough graduates to fill all of the available healthcare jobs. A faculty shortage in this field has colleges limiting the number of hopeful nurses they accept each year. Because of this, many hospitals and other care facilities are now recruiting new nurses from the surrounding states when possible.

If the nursing shortage continues to worsen as some expect, the search for staff members will likely extend outside of the U.S. Many are already suggesting that recruiting from other countries is the only way to fill the vacant nursing jobs in a timely manner.