There are many people wondering about the nature of their jobs in the middle of an economic downturn that will be remembered for centuries. As a nurse or student, you need not worry; the profession is actually in a shortage. According to an American Association of Colleges of Nursing fact sheet, "Dr. Peter Buerhaus...found that despite the current easing of the nursing shortage due to the recession, the U.S. nursing shortage is projected to grow to 260,000 registered nurses by 2025. A shortage of this magnitude would be twice as large as any nursing shortage experienced in this country since the mid-1960s."
There are generally two major areas in which the nursing shortage takes its toll. The first is attrition that takes place in every profession, retirement. As nurses are poignantly aware, particularly those in geriatric specialties, people age and move from the career segment of their lives to the "golden years". This opens many opportunities for young nurses to move forward in their careers. In New York State alone, the number of practicing nurses under age 30 went from 25.1% to 10%. This trend is certain to continue with rising age of the Baby Boomers. When more nurses retiring coupled with the aging population takes hold, it's easy to see why demand will increase for the nursing community.
The second issue is the prospect of comprehensive, or universal, health care on the horizon. Regardless of your political stand on the issue, it is very likely that the scope of potential patients will rise dramatically from some form of legislative reform. This works in the favor of nurses and nursing students. An increase in patients obviously calls for an increase in those who care for them.
Conservative estimates generally indicate that the increased coverage will lead to 12-15 million insured patients. More liberal estimates place the number closer to 47-50 million. The added stress on the system will affect all areas of nursing, but many experts believe it will particularly affect the Emergency Departments and nurse practitioners most directly to begin, since doctors will also see an increase in their patient load, and thus employ the use of NP's more often to effectively treat everyone.
More than likely, universities will soon increase the number of seats in nursing schools to accommodate for these influxes. This is nothing less than a windfall for the industry from the new RN to the Practitioner who's been working since the 1960's. The demand for experienced nurses will increase dramatically, and the commensurate pay will increase as well. For the relatively new nurse, opportunities will arise in specialized fields that had once been very selective courses. Perhaps now is the time to take those classes in Obstetrics or Cardiac Care. And of course the nursing student will be looking to a future of immediate and lasting job prospects in the field long after graduation, something that their peers can envy in times of economic strife. Things look up for the nursing profession for a long time to come.
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