Editor’s Letter
Happy fall everyone! I love this time of year, especially here in the northeast, where we get to enjoy the crisp fall weather and the beautiful foliage. This month, we have included an article detailing the work performed by Doctors Without Borders, which is an international independent medical humanitarian organization that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural and man-made disasters, and exclusion from health care in more than 60 countries and was also awarded the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize. Also, we would like to remind our readers that we would love to share your nursing stories for our Nurse On The Go feature. All submittals should be between 500 and 800 words. To submit a story, send an email with the subject line Nurses On The Go story submission to info@nurse-recruiter.com.
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Experts Foresee Surge in Demand for Nurses But Not Until Economy Rebounds
While most experts agree that pursuing a medical-related job is a wise career decision, there is still concern among many nursing graduates as well as others currently in the field, that jobs are harder to find than they once were. Currently, new nurses are finding it more difficult to land jobs, particularly in large metropolitan areas such as New York and California. Finding nursing jobs in rural areas is somewhat easier. For example, if you reside in an where the unemployment rate is exceptionally high, more people are apt to be delaying medical care, which is turn leads to job freezes and layoffs.
Another issue is that many workers who would normally be retiring are not doing so because they are may be fearful of losing money in this bad economy. There are also many who have moved from part-time into full-time positions. Others are either postponing retiring or taking on additional hours to help supplement a spouse who had been laid off.. So the normal turnover that hospitals normally see has slowed considerably, making new positions less available. Another factor from this economy is that people are putting off procedures because they have either lost healthcare benefits or can't afford the deductible or copay, which in turn has helped contribute to a slowdown in hiring at many hospitals.
Although the recession has slowed healthcare job growth, the overall trend seems to remain upward. Government projections estimate that nationwide, overall healthcare employment will grow by 22 percent between 2006 and 2016. For example, a new report on California's healthcare field, conducted by Beacon Economics and funded by a grant from the California Wellness Foundation, finds that California's population will grow by 10.2 million people by 2030, and the number of its residents age 65 and older will more than double. The researchers estimate that the state will need to employ 1.2 million healthcare workers next year and 2 million workers in 2030. These numbers are indicative that throughout the nation, the healthcare industry will be resistant to recession because the demand for healthcare services will continue to rise. The U.S. population--now roughly 305 million--is expected to reach 373 million by 2030. The number of Americans 65 and older will double. One thing about healthcare is certain: aging baby boomers will continue to place greater demand on the nation's healthcare infrastructure
Even though, many nurses may be delaying retirement during this downturn in the economy, once things turn around forecasters expect this group of potential retirees will open up a huge opportunity for new nursing graduates. For example, a survey detailed by the Michigan Center for Nursing found that 10 years ago, 14% of RN's and 19% of LPN's were age 55 or older. Now, 10 years later those stats have more than doubled with 31% for RN's and 39% for LPN's.
The same factors that involve nursing jobs also impact vacancies at nursing schools. A recent study conducted by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) showed that the nurse faculty vacancy rate in 2009 was 6.6%, down from 7.6% in 2008. Many schools point to changes in faculty retirement patterns and hiring freezes at academic institutions as reasons for this easing of the staff shortage. The nursing schools also expect the number of nurse educators to reach a shortage when the economy rallies. Still, many nursing schools are turning away applicants, because they cannot fill the teaching positions.
Most experts agree however, that once the economy rallies, there will be a huge demand to fill nursing positions. The aging of the current workforce combined with the increasing need to attend to the baby boomer generation will certainly increase this demand. In addition, some speculate that health care reform will make access to care easier to many people who currently do not have adequate insurance. In fact, almost all economic forecasts peg healthcare as one of the top five most recession-proof industries (based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics' job retention and growth)
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Provide Emergency Care Abroad with Doctors Without Borders
Violence was escalating in the city of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, when Seattle-based operating nurse Louise Fang arrived in early 2007 to start her first of three assignments with Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). Having recently retired from a US veterans' hospital, Fang would now provide care at an MSF trauma center in the midst of sporadic and deadly outbreaks of fighting among various armed groups that were struggling over power and natural resources prior to elections in the densely populated, oil-rich region.
Created in 1971, MSF is an independent, impartial, humanitarian organization that works in more than 60 countries to provide emergency medical aid to people whose survival is threatened by armed conflict, epidemics, malnutrition, exclusion from health care, or natural disasters. MSF is currently in urgent need of operating room nurses, nurse-midwives, and nurse-anesthetists. It also recruits registered nurses and nurse practitioners.
Fang's experience provides a glimpse into the work of MSF nurses. In addition to responding to conflict in Port Harcourt, she spent two months delivering maternal health care in Aweil, South Sudan, and three months working in a vaginal fistula repair project in Jigawa, Nigeria. Basic diagnostic equipment and facilities needed to run an operating room were limited, and the scope of responsibility was vast.
In Port Harcourt, Fang remembers one evening when two armed groups were fighting on the city streets. Within four hours the MSF emergency room admitted 30 gunshot victims, five of whom were rushed to the operating room managed by Fang. "That night we operated all night long," she said. Her main responsibilities included training and managing locally hired staff, maintaining sterile operating rooms and supplies, monitoring patients throughout surgery, and coordinating with the emergency and intensive care units.
In Aweil, South Sudan, Fang was on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for a project providing maternal health care as well as surgery in connection with complicated deliveries. The maternal mortality rate in southern Sudan is one of the highest in the world. An absence of healthcare staff, structures, roads, transport, other aid agencies, and investment in health care means that in many areas of southern Sudan, MSF is one of the only medical organizations present to meet the substantial needs. In Fang's project, there were no scrub nurses, circulating nurses, or sterilization technicians to support her, so she took on these duties in addition to managing the operating room and training staff. The vast majority of MSF's aid workers are from the communities where the crises are occurring, with ten percent of teams made up of international staff, including more than 200 aid workers from the US in 2008.
"In Aweil, I remember a patient who had placenta previa. The mother was losing a lot of blood. We rushed in, trying to save her and the baby. We finished the surgery after two hours, and both survived. It was very touching when one of the hospital cleaners came to me and thanked me for saving this patient’s life," Fang said.
Because of the emergency nature of the work, MSF sometimes asks OR nurses and nurse-anesthetists to depart on very short notice. However, MSF does offer them the option of shorter-than-usual assignments, generally lasting from two to three months or longer. Other types of nurses are required to commit to assignments lasting nine to 12 months. In addition to covering room and board, transportation, vaccinations, and insurance, MSF offers a per diem in the local currency and a monthly stipend. For more information you can visit www.doctorswithoutborders.org/work/field.
Requirements for MSF nurses
- Appropriate diploma, degree, and current license
- Current or recent clinical experience (at least 2 years)
- Teaching/training/supervisory experience
- Flexibility and availability
- Ability to work with an international team
- Ability to work in a low-tech environment
- Excellent communication skills
- Relevant travel
Assets
- Training in tropical medicine, infectious diseases (TB and HIV/AIDS), or public health
- Managerial experience
- Ability to speak French a plus
- Operating room nurses, nurse-midwives, and nurse-anesthetists urgently needed
An MSF aid worker examines a malnourished child during a nutritional crisis in Ethiopia (2008)
Picture by Juan Carlos Tomasi/MSF
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