Job Opportunities for Nurses - A Little Decrease

Nursing was considered a secure career because of the oversupply of jobs. Nursing profession is a big help to economic turndown. According to Vickie Radoye, the assistant dean for student affairs at the University of Arizona's College of Nursing, the usual job fair that happened every semester was cancelled this spring because of the lack of interest from hospitals. Because of cuts to a 14-month accelerated partnership program with local hospitals, the college will now accept 48 fewer students this year.

The reason is that the tuition-free program was being subsidized by the hospital in exchange for a three-year work commitment from students once they graduate. This year, Tucson Medical Center will only fund 8 students rather than 16 students in the past. All 40 student grants will no longer funded by Carondelet Health Network. While, University Medical Center and Northwest Medical Center will continue their support at existing levels. Radoye added that this is a momentary pause due to the economic crisis. She heard that those nurses who are already working are not retiring, and some who have part time jobs are now going full time. The number of applicants in the UA’s College of Nursing is nearly double. There were 488 applications received by the University for 102 Spots in its bachelor's of science in nursing program.

According to TMC and Carondelet officials, it is still possible that they will restore more student spots in the future. Their assessment to cut back was based on a lack of urgent need. Judy Tatman, senior vice president and chief nursing officer for the Carondelet Health Network said that the nursing deficiency has not strike yet. There is an impact of economic downturn to everyone in health care but at the same time we must not get restricted. Some nurses’ stay in their jobs, they don’t want to move around. The hospitals are performing thoroughly with the condition of the economy, they put things on hold, hospital admissions and ER visits are lessening.

Benjamin noted that there will always be new jobs for nurses in spite of the competition for the best ones. There were 400 applications for 30 spots in one hospital. Last year, newly grads can call the shots but now they have to work a little harder now. In a research, one-third of the state's nurses are above 55 of age, in the next 10 to 15 years this will result to more job openings. Sarah Zakula, a 22-year-old senior who graduated in May, said that students in the UA's nursing program this year aren't too anxious about jobs. She thinks that graduates need to find job a little harder to determine exactly what they want. She is planning to work in a hospital at Phoenix area as a registered nurse in cardiology and she is optimistic that she'll find a position. David Eisenbise, a group treasurer said that a pre-nursing club at the UA called Professional Achievements in Nursing (PAIN) consists of more than 200 members whose major concern is not the attainment of a job, rather getting into the nursing program competitively.

According to Benjamin, newly nursing graduates’ starting salary is from $23-$25 per hour, total of $50,000 per year. The average salary for nurses in all experience levels is $67,000. For those who have extra shift work or those who are called nurse practitioners, a higher salary awaits them. [via]