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Thank you, harpseal, for beating me to the punch on that line. Absolutely correct. There is no nursing shortage, despite the near-daily news stories to that effect. There is a shortage of nurses who are willing to work under the current deplorable working conditions and low pay! I got my nursing license 30yrs ago and have watched the steady exodus of trained nurses over the years. I'm one of them. I have no interest in going back to work those awful hours, for low pay, terrible bureaucracies, and the expectation that minimum standards are perfection (I kid you not on that one). Try taking care of 10 very sick people who need your attention all at the same time, while their family threatens to sue you because you're not answering the call light fast enough, while you're trying to make sure that someone doesn't go into cardiac arrest while you're answering the doctor about why the labwork isn't ready and while you're trying to give medicines, you have to listen to verbal assaults on everything from lousy hospital food to uncomfortable beds to sloppy housekeeping. Oh, and did I mention mandatory overtime and shift work and holidays? And nary a word of thanks--mostly complaints--from everyone: patients, families, administration. Any wonder why nurses are leaving active practice in droves?

Hospitals have LONG ignored the real adverse conditions nurses have labored under. Rather than spend the money to address those concerns, they've found it cheaper to hire foreign nurses (especially filipinos)who are willing to work under these conditions for low pay. The trade off for these nurses is that they get to enter the country legally and then send for their family.

There are thousands and thousands of nurses licensed but not practicing currently. So, I repeat: not a nursing shortage, but a shortage of nurses willing to put up with the abuse. Sad, but true. Oh, and to add insult to injury (you got me started), hospitals won't even rehire nurses like me who've been out of practice for several years. Yes! Sometimes people ask me why I don't go back in to nursing, and even if i were fool enough to want to go back to those working conditions, I'm not hirable as a nurse. I can only be hired if i've nursed within the last 2 yrs. Otherwise, i'd be required to go back to school for a full 1-2 yrs at a cost of thousands of dollars out of my pocket.

Now, if the hospitals were REALLY interested in rehiring nurses who've left the profession, do you think they'd put such onerous requirements on hiring them? Nope. As i said, it's all a sham (which the media are buying)in an effort to legitimize and justify the hiring of cheap foreigners.

Sometimes people ask me why I don't go back in to nursing, and even if i were fool enough to want to go back to those working conditions, I'm not hirable as a nurse. I can only be hired if i've nursed within the last 2 yrs. Otherwise, i'd be required to go back to school for a full 1-2 yrs at a cost of thousands of dollars out of my pocket.

For somebody exiting nursing, would you advise them to put in a few days a year as an agency nurse, just to keep their license current, or is there a certain minimum number of hours/year you have to have put in?