More Nurses are Leaving Degree Programs Mid-stream
Some anecdotal evidence suggests that although the dream of being a nurse is still there and the demand for jobs is at its highest more nurses than ever are not actually completing their degree programs.
A recent survey by the Florida Hospital Association showed that the turnover rate had now reached 15% the highest ever and the main reasons cited for people not completing their degrees was that they moved out to other job areas.
A real degree in nursing can take any where from 2 to 4 years to complete and requires a lot of study time in the evenings and weekends if the student is already holding down a full time job – add to that study time that the student has to also undertake some actual on the job experience then you may have thought the figure to be quite low and acceptable.
The charges universities and colleges make for degrees are not to be taken lightly but opting to study for any full or part time degree program calls for a massive commitment from the person’s life no matter what the subject matter is.
The call for qualified nurses has never been greater with the US population aging and people living much longer and many people look at it as not only a stable career with prospect but also see it as a vocational option. Of course the work is hard and the actual job very demanding from the patients but perhaps some folks look at it as an easy career option when clearly it isn’t.
The actual pass rate for the National Council Licensure Examination for registered nurses in 2008 and the first three quarters of 2009 in Florida state is a healthy 86.7% and some colleges here are looking at 2 year degree courses to help students out so long as they learn all that is required and can still pass the national exam although many hospitals will have the requirement for nurses to have first past a 4 year degree.
The demand for nursing degree studies has never been greater and some colleges are finding it difficult to recruit enough qualified people to actually teach the students. So some have opted to take their courses online. Over the past 5 or so years there have been many universities offering studies online from established colleges to only online versions which can make it better so students can study at their own pace so long as they have to undertake the practical nature of nursing at a later date and have to take the national exam in any case (as with any online courses it can be easy to cheat the process by getting someone else to sit your exams).
So although some nurses can hack the 4 year program there are many thousands who qualify as registered nurses each year (over 10,000 in Florida alone) and with the national requirement calling for another 1 million or so in the next 5 to 6 years there will be others who can commit to such a program and take their place as qualified nurses in the nation’s hospitals.