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.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Monday, May 12, 2008
The Chattanooga Times Free Press is featuring a piece today on the all too familiar and all too alarming trend toward a shortage of physicians in the US. This article, titled "Chattanooga: Turning away from surgery" specifically addresses the concern over a future lack of general sugeons based on trends seen at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine’s campus in Chattanooga.
Here's an excerpt:
“Mainly for me it’s the predictability of schedule,” he said. “General anesthesiologists work shift work, and when your shift is done, you go home.”
The number of general surgery residents here who practice as general surgeons is falling, said Dr. Phillip Burns, chairman of the department of surgery at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine’s campus in Chattanooga.
“Whereas 15 years ago 75 percent of our (general surgery residency) graduates here would be going into general surgery practice, it’s now down to about 25 percent,” Dr. Burns said.
The trend is raising concern among health care officials nationwide who see a declining number of general surgeons. Surgeons are leaving the field because of declining reimbursement, increasing malpractice premiums and exhausting schedules that require on-call duty. They often migrate to subspecialty fields that offer better pay and hours.
“We have a shortage of surgeons, and physicians in general, that is coming on like a freight train in this country,” Dr. Burns said. “If we don’t do something to increase the numbers of surgeons that are graduating and available to go into spots, we’re going to have huge problems. In 10 years we’re going to have catastrophic problems.”
More:
"Video: General surgeon numbers declining BY THE NUMBERS* The ratio of general surgeons per 100,000 people has declined from 7.68 in 1981 to 5.69 in 2005* 17,922 Number of surgeons in 2001* 16,662 Number of surgeons in the United States in 2005 — a 25-year lowSource: Archives of Surgery, April issuePHYSICIAN SPECIALTY SALARIESRanges of annual salaries for:* General surgeon: $249,700 to $336,000* Anesthesiology: $282,212 to $453,000* Radiology: $325,438 to $474,500* Dermatology: $224,630 to $418,789* Family medicine: $142,200 to $190,000SOURCE: Association of American Medical Colleges’ Careers in Medicine program.
RESIDENCY PROGRAM LIMITSFederal legislation hinders expansion of residency programs, doctors here said.After the federal Council on Graduate Medical Education projected a surplus of 80,000 physicians by the year 2000, the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 froze the number of federally funded residency positions, making it a cost burden on training programs to fund new positions.The Residency Review Committee for Surgery also has been conservative in approving new general surgery positions, according to a recent article in the journal Archives of Surgery.Those guidelines should be revisited to get more general surgeons in the training pipeline, said Dr. Phillip Burns, chairman of the department of surgery at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine’s campus in Chattanooga."
Here's an excerpt:
“Mainly for me it’s the predictability of schedule,” he said. “General anesthesiologists work shift work, and when your shift is done, you go home.”
The number of general surgery residents here who practice as general surgeons is falling, said Dr. Phillip Burns, chairman of the department of surgery at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine’s campus in Chattanooga.
“Whereas 15 years ago 75 percent of our (general surgery residency) graduates here would be going into general surgery practice, it’s now down to about 25 percent,” Dr. Burns said.
The trend is raising concern among health care officials nationwide who see a declining number of general surgeons. Surgeons are leaving the field because of declining reimbursement, increasing malpractice premiums and exhausting schedules that require on-call duty. They often migrate to subspecialty fields that offer better pay and hours.
“We have a shortage of surgeons, and physicians in general, that is coming on like a freight train in this country,” Dr. Burns said. “If we don’t do something to increase the numbers of surgeons that are graduating and available to go into spots, we’re going to have huge problems. In 10 years we’re going to have catastrophic problems.”
More:
"Video: General surgeon numbers declining BY THE NUMBERS* The ratio of general surgeons per 100,000 people has declined from 7.68 in 1981 to 5.69 in 2005* 17,922 Number of surgeons in 2001* 16,662 Number of surgeons in the United States in 2005 — a 25-year lowSource: Archives of Surgery, April issuePHYSICIAN SPECIALTY SALARIESRanges of annual salaries for:* General surgeon: $249,700 to $336,000* Anesthesiology: $282,212 to $453,000* Radiology: $325,438 to $474,500* Dermatology: $224,630 to $418,789* Family medicine: $142,200 to $190,000SOURCE: Association of American Medical Colleges’ Careers in Medicine program.
RESIDENCY PROGRAM LIMITSFederal legislation hinders expansion of residency programs, doctors here said.After the federal Council on Graduate Medical Education projected a surplus of 80,000 physicians by the year 2000, the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 froze the number of federally funded residency positions, making it a cost burden on training programs to fund new positions.The Residency Review Committee for Surgery also has been conservative in approving new general surgery positions, according to a recent article in the journal Archives of Surgery.Those guidelines should be revisited to get more general surgeons in the training pipeline, said Dr. Phillip Burns, chairman of the department of surgery at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine’s campus in Chattanooga."
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