The Sandwiched Generation

All of us in the nursing industry have heard the reasoning that the nursing shortage that has been with us for a long time (well over 20 years) and probably will never end is due to the ever-increasing age of the American public. People are living longer and in many cases this is due to the advances of medicine. But to take full advantage of those advances requires nurses. And as the Baby Boomers retire, many nurses are retiring and few nurses of the same skill level are replacing them. 20 years ago your choices in a nursing career path were basically limited to hospitals, nursing centers and home health. Now, the opportunities are limitless and fewer and fewer nurses are choosing the career path of long hours and the demanding schedules of hospitals that take them away from their family and personal life.

This past week there was a trend in our agency. Over 10% of our nurses were taking personal time off to care for their aging parents. It is almost a given in most families that if there is a nurse in the family they are the designated caregiver. Weekly, we have nurses who ask for time off to care for their children but this past week was unusual. As we went name by name and noted why this or that nurse was not working, repeatedly it was "caring for his or her parent". So I guess we can add the nurses who are the caregivers of the family, the Sandwiched Generation ( of which I am one ) who take time off to care for an aging family member, to the multiple reasons we have a nursing shortage in the US.

I am by no means faulting our nurses who take time off to care for a loved one. Just the opposite, I am honored to be associated with such caring and responsible human beings. I'm thrilled that AMS is able provide our nurses with the freedom to create the schedule they need to live the life they want.

Sometimes you have to change and adapt to stay true to your original goal.

It seems that every where you look the small owner managed stores are being pushed out of business by the mega stores who can negotiate crazy low rates for products.   I think the opposite can be said for nursing agencies.  In the 80's and 90's huge nursing agencies appeared.  But it wasn't because they were cutting great deals, it was because the nursing shortage was at an all time high and they could name their bill rate.  Well, those days are long gone.  Today the hospitals name the price and the nurses set their pay and the agency that can manage its expenses and show a profit is the agency that wins.  Controlling expenses is the name of the game when it comes to being successful in the world of vendor management.  It is anticipated that in the next 5 years over 90% of all hospitals in the US will participate in a vendor management program.  When a nursing agency contracts with a vendor management group it means the agency agrees to bill the rates the vendor management group sets and agrees to abide by the contract and in most cases agrees to pay the vendor management group a fee for the use of their software and the services of their client liaison.  Most of our competitors waste precious time and management complaining about the situation instead of adjusting to the changing times.  The benefit of being a boutique agency ( that is PC for small ) is that we are able to make immediate changes and adapt to the ever changing marketplace.  We are able to this without reducing the pay or benefits of our nurses or the customer service we provide our clients.  AMS has taken full advantage of the cost saving opportunities of fully utilizing the Internet, adapting computer software and exploring new technologies.  Being compact ( another PC term for small ) allows AMS to make decisions and implement those decisions without weeks of meetings, polls, discussions and "what ifing".

I truly believe the nurses we represent did not choose nursing as a career to get rich.  They choose to be nurses to help others and earn a decent wage for themselves and their families. I choose to represent highly skilled nurses to in my own ( although much removed ) way help others and earn a decent wage for myself and my family.   No one at AMS is here to get rich and that keeps us focused and willing to adapt so that we can always help our nurses, our clients and their patients.  Because ultimately, that is why I founded AMS and we will always stay true to our original  goal.