Another Hospital in the Nurse Search Status

A registered nurse friend of mine was telling me today about Houston Healthcare being in need of nurses due to the rising admission rate they have been experiencing.

I found this to be an interesting case as most of the nurse shortage in the U.S. happen in smaller cities. Atlanta for example has a very competitive nurse market and there is no shortage there.

Emory University hospital turns down nursing applications on a weekly basis and Piedmont hospital has such a large nursing database that they only need to make a couple of phone calls to get a nurse.

Getting back to the point, Houston Healthcare started out with 30 RN and 5 LPN positions available in June and have so far only been able to fill 11 of the RN positions but have been able to fill all of the LPN positions.

Looking at the current economy, you would assume that the jobs would have been filled by now but it is not the case. Of course, if the hospital in question is not using a nurse placement agency with a good list of registered nurses then the process would be slower.

If they are using such an agency and still not able to fill these position then it is something we should all worry about.

Language Skills as Marketing Tool for Yourself

There is curently a nurse shortage in Japan according to an article by the Seattle Time where Naoto Kan who is going to be stepping as Japan's Prime Minister shortly has had many meetings with advisors to deal with the issue of "beefing up the nursing industry as Japan's population continues to age".



This is another example of how the nursing shortage crisis is not just limited to a few countries(like the U.S) but also becoming a global issue.

American registered nurses and nursing students should consider learning another language to become more marketable.



When I am reffering to learning another language, I'm not just talking about just taking a few Berlitz classes so you can communicate but taking advance courses that specifically deal with medical terms. Having this skill under your belt, a registered nurse could acquire a job in another country that pays more compettive salary or can ask for more money when she applies to a hospital.


If you plan on working in the United States, Spanish is a great language to know due to the large amount of migrant workers in certain parts of the country. Spanish, however, should not be considered the only option since in larger cities, they are many communities of immigrants like Chinese where many people have not yet learned the language.


It all depends on where you plan on living. For example, if you want to live in California, then learning Mandarin Chinese, Vietnamese or Spanish would be a good choice. If you intend to live in Arizona or Texas, then Spanish would be the language of choice.

Another advantage of being a bilingual registered nurse is that it will give you that extra edge when applying for a nursing position as an employer would rather hire a bilingual nurse then one who is not.