The numbers are staggering. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, a division of the Department of Labor, states that there will be one million new nursing job openings. The unsettling part of this number is that 126,000 positions were left open in 2005 according to the American Hospital Association. By 2016, that number is expected to top 1 million.
Nursing is a large field that has different skill levels attached to it. From nursing home care to ER and trauma, nurses are a vital part of a healthcare team. The deficit in the numbers of nurses required may be one reason the government started an online nursing job bank site with a $10 million financial aid package combined with it. Not much more should be needed to convince students this is a vital career option.
To meet this demand, more and more students are taking their nursing classes online. These courses over the Internet are offered by schools to meet all degree needs in the nursing field. Adding their own financial aid to the general college aid available are a number of the nursing schools and other medical societies.
Florence Nightingale would be surprised at how nursing has changed over the years. With the growth of technology, a firm knowledge of math and even the science behind the machinery itself is a substantial part of what is required by nurses. While hospitals and physician practices do remain high employers, as the population is aging there are more long-term and homebound care requirements, not to mention nursing home facilities. Some nurses are taking the skill set up a notch to become nurse practitioners in their own offices, or in conjunction with a primary physician, thus lower health care costs to the patient.
We all know the expression "baby boomer", but what might not be known is the size of this age group. It was a huge population explosion at the time and now, in the later years, these citizens are all aging. Indeed, nurses themselves of that era are aging too and engaging in their own retirement from the work force. A part of why there is and will be a shortage of nurses is due to the advancement of age of this population demographic.
Some nurses will choose to advance their careers with a Doctor of Nursing degree that would enable them to work in clinical research and advanced clinical practice and health administration. Others will pursue a Masters of Science in Nursing where they can specialize in a particular field, with a commensurate raise in salary. Those just entering school can start with a two year program and advance to a four year Bachelor of Science. There are also more general nursing diplomas for medical billing and physical therapists and the like. Online schools are meeting all these degree needs and some even offer accelerated nursing programs.
Where a new nurse works depends on where they live and what training they've completed. For some, this may mean working in less than ideal conditions and with a good deal of stress. Not every area of employment has the latest equipment and often institutions are chronically under staffed, so work hours will be intense. What is a given though, is that the experience gained will translate to any new location or employment situation and those who learned "under fire" may be the most cool-headed when that next ER trauma arrives!
There's no indication that the demand for nurses is going to lessen any time soon. It's a fact that people get sick and need professional care at all stages of their lives. Distance learning programs will prepare nursing students to engage these individuals at every level and provide the help they need, while single mothers nursing grants and scholarships help the students themselves.
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