In spite of fewer openings for new nurses at hospitals, there is still a nursing shortage in California, according to the California Institute for Nursing and Health Care.
"About half of all nurses work in hospitals, so a slowdown in admissions is just one factor in the job market for registered nurses," said Deloras Jones, RN, executive director of the CINHC. "There is still a 7 percent hospital vacancy rate, but positions are being filled by experienced nurses back in the market due to hard economic times."
Jones said 90 percent of RNs under the age of 55 are working, so the market for new graduates is tighter than usual.
The average age of an RN in California is over 47, so as they approach retirement, the statewide shortage will likely worsen. CINHC projects California will have a shortfall of 108,000 nurses by 2020.
"New graduates may not get their first choice of a job or location, but there are still openings," said Jones. "Opportunities are growing in ambulatory and non-acute settings as care shifts away from hospitals."
Nevertheless, she warned that a false sense of security would be disastrous.
"The last time nursing school enrollment contracted in response to new grad hiring trends, it took 10 years to recover," Jones said. "Not until 2004 did California graduate the same number of nurses that graduated in 1994."
According to CINHC, a nursing faculty shortage is the state's greatest bottleneck to expanding educational capacity. In partnership with the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency and other organizations, CINHC works to increase nursing school capacity by increasing the availability of clinical faculty.
CINHC provides training for clinical faculty through grants from the Employment Development Department, Moore Foundation and Kaiser Permanente.
"There are people who want to teach, but there are not enough slots, plus faculty salaries need to be competitive with those of working clinical nurses," said Jones.
She said the good news is that educational capacity for RNs statewide has increased 55 percent since 2004, bringing younger nurses – including more men – into the workforce.