NursingCrossing Posts 12,000–Plus Nursing Jobs in a Week; Stresses the Need for Better Training and Working Conditions for Nurses

January 06, 2009   |    PDF version

Pasadena, CA  — The healthcare industry is hale and hearty compared to other industries that have experienced massive layoffs lately. NursingCrossing, a job site catering to nursing professionals, added 12,255 nursing jobs in a single week, bringing the site’s job count to a staggering 89,923. With the growing job count in the nursing profession, NursingCrossing aims to update its website with each and every job opening.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs related to nursing and residential care facilities grew by 19,600 from January to August 2008. However, the national study on nursing home social workers revealed that the applicants for nursing jobs are still so scarce that recruiters have been forced to get increasingly inventive. The University of Iowa survey of 1,071 nursing home social service directors shows that recruiters across the country are so desperate to hire nurses that they have tried various techniques to lure them for newer jobs, offering chair massages, lavish catering, and contests for flat-screen TVs worth $1,000. The survey reveals that training of those interested in nursing is also a pivotal factor, which has not yet received its due. Only half of the nursing home social workers have a degree in social work, and 20% do not have a four-year degree, the survey shows.

More importantly, despite their desire to learn, two-thirds of nursing home social workers report they do not belong to a professional organization that helps to keep them up to date on nursing home social work issues, and only 38% are licensed in social work. Experts agree that nurses qualified to teach aspiring nurses are scarce mainly because they can make at least 20% more working at a hospital.

''The recession has hit the recruiters with scarcity of nurses, so much so that they are offering $50 gas cards for calling them for interviews,'' said Harrison Barnes, CEO of NursingCrossing. ''The government should look into improving the working conditions of nurses, their average pay, and should create plans for forming nursing institutes which assures quality training for the nurses.''

Barnes adds, ''NursingCrossing shows job seekers information that is completely unbiased. We are also taking nursing jobs from every employer site and job site we can find and putting them on our site.''

Unlike other job-search and career sites, NursingCrossing weeds out spam and jobs outside one’s niche, allowing job seekers to search efficiently and specifically. The number of nursing jobs present in the database is expected to get an additional boost in a few days. For more information on NursingCrossing, please visit www.nursingcrossing.com.

Contact:
Mary Wilson, Editorial Coordinator,
NursingCrossing
626-243-1821
mary@employmentcrossing.com

About NursingCrossing:

NursingCrossing is an affiliate of EmploymentCrossing, a powerful and comprehensive organization dedicated to helping professionals find jobs that will enhance their careers. NursingCrossing consolidates every nursing job opening it can find in one convenient location. The website also offers a seven-day free trial to new members.