What is the Career Outlook for Nurses?
The career outlook for nurses at the current time is excellent. New jobs for nurses are estimated to grow at a faster pace than most other occupations through at least 2016. The United States Department of Labor expects 587,000 new jobs for RNs during this time period, which is one of the highest numbers of new jobs in any field. There will also be openings for nurses to replace other nurses who have retired or left the field for other reasons. These new jobs will not be in every region of the country or in every area of nursing, and some places will have more new jobs than others.
The Department of Labor also predicts an increase of 23% in the employment of registered nurses between 2006 and 2016. There are many reasons for this projected growth. There will be increasingly more "baby boomers" needing medical care as they age. There are more treatments available for more diseases, and there is also more preventative medical care available. New nursing jobs are expected to come from all of these areas.
Changes in the way medical care is delivered will impact the employment of nurses, shifting some of the jobs from the hospital to outpatient settings. Patients have shorter hospital stays now than they did in years past, and that trend is expected to continue. Treatment is often given on an outpatient basis today which would have previously meant a hospital stay. Those patients discharged early need more care at home. There are also more ambulatory care centers and surgery centers that handle outpatient procedures. These patients need care at home afterwards.
Consequently, the growth in jobs for RNs will vary from setting to setting. The Department of Labor predicts a 39% increase in the employment of RNs in physicians' offices and home health care services, as well as a 34% increase in employment in outpatient care centers. Employment is expected to increase by 27% in "Employment Services." These are companies that provide RNs for temporary work in homes, offices, and hospitals, whenever there are fewer nurses available than needed. Despite the fact that patients may be leaving the hospital earlier, there will still be more patients in total to treat. A 22% increase in hospital employment for RNs is predicted. Nursing care facilities (nursing homes) are expected to employ 20% more registered nurses.
There is also a high turnover rate of hospital nurses. Some nurses have to work the evening and graveyard shifts, which is stressful, as is taking care of seriously ill patients. Hospitals often offer bonuses to attract registered nurses, and also offer to pay for more training.
There are shortages of registered nurses in many parts of the country. As nurses are retiring, there are not enough new nurses to replace them. There are increasing numbers of men and women entering nursing schools, but that number is limited because of a lack of sufficient nursing teachers.
RNs with bachelor’s degrees will be hired preferentially by many employers. Nurses with advanced degrees have an even brighter career outlook. Nurse practitioners and other advance practice nurses will be in increasing demand.
While the demand will vary depending on location and practice setting, increasing numbers of registered nurses will be needed in all parts of the country in the coming years.
Published: 2009-09-10
