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Posts Tagged ‘Demand For Nurses’

Nurses are a vital part of the medical community. There are over 2.5 million nurses in the United States, and nursing is the largest employer in the healthcare field. As the population ages, it is expected that we will need more nurses than ever to fill these available positions. There are two reasons for the increased demand for nurses. An aging population is one that will have a greater need for medical care, and many nurses are reaching retirement age. At a time when teacher and nurse where the two traditional career paths for women, many of the nurses that are reaching retirement age now chose nursing as a career. As other fields of study opened up, fewer women chose to enter the nursing field. That is offset slightly by the fact that many men are entering the field once dominated by women. Men, lured by the promise of flexible schedules and high demand, are a growing segment of the nursing community.

The nursing community is vital to the structure of the entire medical community. Nurses are responsible for their patient’s well being, and must not only dispense medicine, but recognize early signs of complications, monitor the patient’s emotional condition, and help the patient’s family understand the diagnosis and treatment of a disease.

The Importance of Nurses in the Hospital Setting

Nurses receive specialized training in monitoring and assessing medical conditions. While a physician diagnoses a disease or ailment and prescribes a course of treatment, it is the nurse who is involved in the implementation of that therapy. Nurses work one on one with patients, monitoring their vital signs and observing any changes to their condition. Often a nurse’s instinct, honed by hours on the job, is the first clue that a patient may not be responding well to treatment or that there may be another problem.

A nurse will typically be responsible for many patients on each shift. She is responsible for making sure they receive their medications and any other prescribed treatments, as well as helping with basic needs and comforts. The nurse is often a liaison between the patient and their family and the physician. The nurse can often explain in layman’s terms what the doctor has diagnosed and, using knowledge from years on the job, comfort the patient and family members.

The Importance of Nursing in the Community

Nurses are an important part of the community. Particularly in under-served areas, a patient may receive a good deal of their primary care from a nurse. Immunization clinics and health screenings are just two of the ways that nurses serve the community. Without community nurses, many children would be unable to attend school, or be unable to see the chalk board, or older patients would be unaware of high blood pressure or high cholesterol.

Community nursing is growing in importance as health care becomes unaffordable for many families. Community nurses often implement low cost programs that allow members of the community to receive help in losing weight, monitoring their blood pressure, or obtaining dental or eye exams for their children.

Nursing in the Home Care Setting

Nurses that work in home health care provide a valuable service to their clients. Often an elderly person is unable to live on their own, but does not want to give up their independence and enter a nursing home. Sometime, a child with a medical condition can stay home, but needs therapy daily. In situations such as these, a home health nurse is invaluable. The nurse makes up a schedule that is set up by the treating physician, and visits homes, administering therapy, checking on the client’s well being, and assessing the patient for any additional needs they may have.

A Higher Level of Care

One of the problems with the rising cost of health care is the lack of access to physicians. Many nurses are furthering their education in ways that help the entire medical community. A registered nurse that has completed his or her bachelor degree may continue on to one of many branches of graduate school. After specialization, she will graduate as a nurse practitioner, and specialize in midwife and delivery, community health, family care, or anesthetics. Although supervision levels vary by state, the nurse practitioner typically works under the supervision of a physician.

While the nurse practitioner must work under a physician, she has a great deal of autonomy. It is not a situation where the nurse is directly supervised. The physician is available for consultation, and may review charts and diagnosis on occasion, but the nurse practitioner can order tests, refer patients to specialists and has prescribing authority. Nurse practitioners have enhanced the level of care offered in many poor and rural communities. They also allow a hospital to reduce its costs by providing services that in the past were only offered by a physician.

Nursing is often considered the recession proof career. While it is possible to cut back in many areas of life when the economy goes south, medical care is not one of those areas. Whether you have plenty of money or very little, you still get sick, or you may get injured. This makes visiting a hospital or doctor a necessity. Very few people stop to think about medical bills before visiting the hospital in the case of an emergency.

Medical careers in general, and nurses in particular, are growing at a rate that is quicker than most other careers. The need for healthcare workers is across the board, with a growing demand in hospitals, long term care facilities, home health care agencies and physicians offices. Nurses are also employed in other settings, such as community health departments, schools and as telephone consultants for managed care providers.

<b>Growing needs for healthcare</b>

One of the factors in the need for more nurses is the aging population of the US. The baby boomer population, the largest in our country’s history, is getting older, and in growing need of medical care. Older patients have different needs than younger ones. This will lead to a growing demand for nurses that are willing to work in the long term care setting as well as nurses that work in home healthcare.

Another consideration in the aging population is skyrocketing medical costs. While advancements in medical care mean that many conditions can be treated more successfully than in past years, technology comes at a price. Patients are spending less time than ever in the hospital. Once their condition is managed, they are released to a nursing facility or their home. In the past, many home health agencies employed LPNs or nurse’s aides to visit their in home patients. With the increased medical demands and need for training, registered nurses are becoming a sought after addition to many home health agencies rosters.

<b>Recession-proof yourself</b>

While nursing is one of the most recession proof careers you could chose, there are many people with nursing degrees that are unemployed. Some of these people are not working by choice, and others may not be able to find a job in their area, or the wage is not high enough to justify hiring a babysitter. For some others, the only jobs available may require shift work, which some people are not interested in at all.

To best position yourself for the growing need for nurses, and make sure that you are recession proof, take some proactive steps.<ul>
<li>Invest in a bachelor degree. Although you can become an RN with an associate’s degree, and you will still be an RN once you complete your bachelor degree, it is very worthwhile and beneficial to your career. Many healthcare settings require anyone in management to have a four year degree, and you will definitely need it if you want to pursue a nurse practitioner degree.</li>
<li>Consider a nurse practitioner program. Many hospitals offer tuition reimbursement, so pursuing a graduate degree is surprisingly affordable. As healthcare needs continue to grow, nurse practitioners, who can diagnose, treat and prescribe, just like a doctor, are becoming increasingly in demand.</li>
<li>Specialize. Whatever area you work in, or want to work in, consider a specialization program. Take continuing education in emergency care, pediatrics or any other field you work in. The point is, make yourself an expert.</li>
<li>Socialize. Get to know nurses at other care facilities. There are more job opportunities for nurses than you can imagine. If you find yourself on the hunt for a job, networking is the quickest way to find a new position.</li>
<li>Understand that recession proof does not mean lucrative. Although the pay scale for nursing today is strong, there is no guarantee that it will remain that way. As hospitals search for ways to cut costs, there are only so many ends to trim. At some point salaries and hours may be cut, and a nurse’s patient load may increase. If this happens, the job becomes infinitely more stressful.</li></ul>

<b>Finding a Balance</b>

Because of the demand for nurses, many in this profession work long hours in multiple positions. Per Diem positions are lucrative for the nurse who wants to stay home with her children, but desires a little extra cash. As more people realize the job security offered by nursing, it is expected that more people will choose it as a career. What is currently unknown is if the supply will keep up with the demand.

If youre going to take up a career, why not choose a career in healthcare. Okay, being a doctor may not be your thing but what about being a nurse? There are a number of benefits of a nursing career. If you join the nursing field, you will be joining a career that is the largest in the field of healthcare.

Probably one of the most notable advantage of having a career in nursing is the opportunity to work practically anywhere in the world. Nurses are always in demand. Developed countries like the US, Canada, countries in Europe and Japan, needs health care professionals to man the needed posts in their hospitals and clinics. And job opportunities abroad seem to be always increasing and is continuous.

The demand for nurses is not limited to medication facilities like hospitals and clinics. There are demands for nurses in other areas, such as in schools, colleges, universities, as well as companies and corporations. Nurses are also being hired to join non-government and inter-government organizations. They are being sought after as private home nurses, nurse midwives, clinical nurse practitioners, and even nurse anesthetists.

With the right license and certification, nurses can diversify their field, going from one area of specialization to another. Theres chance a nurses life will be boring. The opportunities are very spread out and the number needed is quite significant, so nurses in general will always have a high level of job security for they are always needed.

In terms of employment, there is always a need for nurses. Then lets go to another important aspect of being a nurse: the pay. A career in nursing pays well, at least that remains true in developed countries. Nurses that came from developing countries like in Asia and in Africa are more engaged to having a rewarding and fulfilling.

There are different kinds of study program available to would be nurses. There are vocational training schools which offer short nursing education which lasts for more than a year or so. Those who want to be included in the registered nurse list of passers need to have a diploma showing that they have finished an associate or baccalaureate program.

Nurses also function as educators and can take on the responsibilities of such, having to explain the details to the disease to the family of the patients and their immediate community. As nurses, you will be able to interact with families and people in their community. Unlike any other health care profession, nurses are perhaps the only ones that are able to form bonds with their patients. The rest of the medical community, even the doctors, does not establish such close personal bonds between the nurses and their patients.

However, those who decide to enter the career of nursing needs to be prepared for shifting schedules, holiday work, and working around sick and dying patients a lot. It you cannot take any of these situations then a nursing career is probably not for you.

You can learn more about the career by browsing the Web, looking at career websites, brochures and newsletters. You can even talk to actual nurses and get their say about the matter. But in a nutshell, the benefits of a nursing career include career flexibility, a chance to grow career wise and as a person especially with the satisfaction one receives from helping people out.