FM Area Faces a Nursing Shortage

The FM area is scrambling for nurses but why the sudden need?

It’s no secret that the FM area is continuing to grow.

But with aging baby boomers and more opportunities for nurses, hospitals around the area are having a difficult time finding experienced nurses.
 
Alex Nissen didn’t always know nursing was the career path for her, but that soon changed after starting her job at Sanford Children’s Hospital.
 
“The impact that nurses have on the lives of sick children and their families really inspired me to want to be one of those people,” says NDSU Nursing Student, Alexa Nissen.
 
In just a few years, Nissen will enter the nursing field. A field that is in desperate need for a few more nurses.
 
“I would say one of the challenges or one of the changes we’re seeing now is that there are just a lot more opportunities,” says Essentia Health Chief Nursing Officer, Nicole Christensen.
 
Christensen says the nursing field has changed tremendously within the past five years.
 
“It used to be you worked in a hospital or you worked in a clinic,” says Christensen.
 
The NDSU Nursing Program has already taken steps to respond to the shortage.

The school currently graduates 64 nurses each year.

By spring of 2017, the school will graduate 96 more students.

Eventually, they plan to graduate 128 students.
 
“There are other areas that you can go into with an advanced nursing degree are just more lucrative. There are opportunities to make more money they’re appealing in different ways,” says NDSU School of Nursing Chair, Carla Gross.
 
The passion for nursing is still there.
 
“They really know they can make an important difference in the lives of patients and families and they do,” says Gross.
 
And while nurses are the hot topic, the FM area has seen job openings across the board.
 
“I mean you can go to anybody’s want ads and see that there is a ton you can drive down the street and see there is a ton and we are competing with that especially in some of our non-professional areas,” says Christensen.

Christensen also tells me that it’s not just a matter of recruiting people or staff, it’s also recruiting experienced staff.

She says many nurses are just not staying at positions as long.