Posts Tagged ‘Certified Nursing Assistants’
The Future Of Nursing: Nursing Home Jobs
According to the Occupational Outlook guide, the nursing profession is among the fastest growing of all career paths. Within nursing, the single specialty expected to grow by leaps and bounds is gerontology. The aging of the baby boomers has increased the average age of the typical patient. According to one survey, patients over 65 make up 60 percent of adult primary visits, 48 percent of inpatient hospital admissions and 85 percent of nursing home residents. By the year 2020 – less than 15 years from now – a study from Occupational Health and Safety Administration predicts that the need for registered nurses in nursing homes will increase 66%, for licensed practical and vocational nurses by 72% and the need for certified nursing assistants will increase by 69%. For nurses working in home health settings – which include ‘managed care’ nursing home settings – those numbers are even higher – well above 250% increase in nurses needed at every level of licensing.
In other words, if you’re planning a career in nursing or are already a nurse, there are thousands of jobs available for you in nursing homes and chronic care facilities. The face of geriatric nursing has also changed considerably over the past decades. If your image of a nursing home is one of bleak halls and hopeless, helpless patients, then a visit to many of today’s nursing homes will offer an unexpected and pleasant surprise.
Nursing Home Jobs In the New Millennium
This generation of seniors is more active and more determined than any other that has come before them. It’s led to major changes in the practice of long term elder care. If you decide that a nursing home job is for you, here are some of the options that you can explore.
On Site Nurse in Senior Housing
Many seniors don’t need round the clock nursing care, but do need some nursing supervision. Senior housing communities often have an on-site nurse who is available to help residents with medication problems, take care of routine medical care and be available in case of an emergency. The nurse on site will also often consult with doctors who work with individual residents to help manage any medical care that they need. The pay scale is generally quite good, and the hours closer to a regular work week than in many other geriatric nursing jobs.
Continuing Care Retirement Community Nursing Jobs
Unlike traditional nursing homes, residents of CCRCs have and maintain their own apartments with whatever support they require to remain as independent as possible. Nursing job opportunities in CCRCs range from managed care nursing similar to the duties of a head nurse in a hospital to providing personal care to individual residents. CCRCs offer opportunities for skilled nursing care, medical case management and licensed practical nursing.
Rehabilitation Facilities
Not all nursing homes cater to long-term geriatric patients. As hospital costs have risen, the trend has been to discharge patients to rehab facilities and convalescent homes rather than keep them in the hospital until they’re ready to go home. Nurses in rehab facilities and convalescent homes get to be part of the recovery process, and many take great pride and joy in watching a patient advance and recover. Convalescent home jobs include charge nurses, floor nurses and nursing assistants as well as physical and occupational therapy specialists.
Traditional Nursing Home Jobs
Even traditional nursing homes are far different than they were a few decades ago. A nurse specializing in gerontology in a nursing home can expect to work with patients in the long term. The jobs available range from head nurses for an entire facility through floor charge nurses who are responsible for overseeing the care and medical needs of one wing or floor and certified nursing assistants who do much of the hands on nursing care.
5 Unusual Jobs You Can Get With A Nursing Degree
By the year 2014 – just eight years away – there will be 3.6 million new jobs available in the medical profession, and the bulk of those jobs – about 60% of them – will be open to those with nursing degrees of one kind or another. The demand for registered nurses is highest – the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the number of jobs available for registered nurses will rise by 27% by 2014 – but there will also be increased opportunities for certified nursing assistants, licensed practical nurses, nurse practitioners, physician’s assistants and those in medical technical fields like phlebotomy and pulmonology.
And if you thought that the only jobs available for nurses were in hospitals and medical facilities, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has more news for you. Less than 60% of registered nurses work in a hospital. A nursing degree opens doors of opportunity into so many fields that it’s easily one of the most versatile and useful degrees that you can acquire. Not only that – a nursing degree appeals to a wide range of people. According to the BLS, about 20% of those entering the nursing workforce are older workers starting on a second career. Many of them have been attracted by rising salaries triggered by the nursing shortage, but for many of them, a nursing degree is a chance to do something that makes them feel good.
Whether you’ve just started your nursing career, are returning to work after a hiatus, or are switching to a career in nursing as a second career, take a look at some of the opportunities that are open to you with a nursing degree.
Pediatric Home Health Care is one of the growing fields for those with nursing degrees. Every state in the Union now has some sort of Early Intervention program that identifies children under the age of three years with special needs. Pediatric home health care gives you the opportunity to work with children and parents and make a real difference in their lives.
Elder Home Health Care is the other end of the spectrum. The ‘aging of America’ means that more and more people require a little bit of help to remain in their homes. Nursing assistants, registered nurses and licensed nurses can provide that little bit extra that will allow a senior citizen to maintain a higher quality of life and remain at home when all they need is a few hours of medical care a day or week.
Working in a Blood Donor Center is an option that makes you part of the life-saving network. There’s more to blood donor centers than just starting IVs. Nurses who specialize in pharesis can command high salaries, and a nurse working in the blood collection field can be a valuable community organizer as well as a medical practitioner.
A Critical Care Transport nurse requires multiple nursing degrees, but it can be one of the most interesting and fascinating nursing jobs available. A CCT nurse accompanies patients being transported from home or a nursing facility to another nursing facility. The nurse is responsible for maintaining continuity of care for every patient – in the back of an ambulance. It’s a challenging and fun job that commands a salary commensurate with the experience required.
On Site Nursing is a wide open field for medical workers with nursing degrees. You can work at an amusement park or zoo, or in the medical office at a state or national park, or provide medical backup for the emergency workers at a beach or other recreational setting. If you choose to work on site at a camp or other facility, your benefits may include free tuition for your own family.