Job Outlook: The Growing Demand For Nurses

Registered Nurses (RNs) are in high demand. Nursing jobs, especially for RNs, are expected to grow faster than the average (increase 21 to 35 percent) for all occupations through 2012. In fact, more new jobs are expected be created for RNs than for any other occupation.

Financially, the shortage is good news for nurses. According to most salary surveys, the Average Yearly Wage for nurses rose 10 percent in the last two years. Employers are taking additional steps to retain the nurses they have by offering salary increases, bonuses and better benefits.

Employers across the country are reporting difficulty in attracting and retaining an adequate number of RNs. Thousands of nursing jobs will result from the need to replace experienced nurses who will be leaving the occupation. The median age for an RN is 45-years old. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics approximately half of the RN workforce will reach retirement age within the next 15 years.

New legions of nurses will be needed to meet the demands of our aging population. Baby Boomers, those born between 1944 and 1964, are reaching the age where they will be putting increased demands on our nation’s hospitals, home health and assisted living systems. The 1990 census showed that there were 77 million Baby Boomers and only 44 million Generation Xers. One of the results of this disparity is the smallest pool of entry-level workers in generations. With regards to nursing, there are fewer nurses to replace those retiring and to provide care for the increased needs of an aging population.

Faster-than-average growth in nursing employment is also driven by technological advances in patient care, which permit a greater number of medical problems to be treated, and an increasing emphasis on preventive care.

Employment of nurses in hospitals, the largest sector, is expected to grow more slowly than in most other healthcare sectors. While the intensity of nursing care is likely to increase, requiring more nurses per patient, the number of inpatients (those who remain in the hospital for more than 24 hours) is not likely to increase much. Patients are being discharged earlier and more procedures are being done on an outpatient basis, both inside and outside hospitals. Rapid growth is expected in hospital outpatient facilities, such as those providing same-day surgery, rehabilitation, and chemotherapy.

An increasing proportion of sophisticated procedures, which once were performed only in hospitals, are being performed in physicians’ offices and in outpatient care centers, such as freestanding ambulatory surgical and emergency centers. Accordingly, nursing employment is expected to grow faster than average in these places as healthcare in general expands.

Employment in nursing care facilities is expected to grow faster than average due to increases in the number of elderly, many of whom require long-term care. In addition, the financial pressure on hospitals to discharge patients as soon as possible should produce more admissions to nursing care facilities. Nursing job growth also is expected in units that provide specialized long-term rehabilitation for stroke and head injury patients, as well as units that treat Alzheimer’s victims.

Nursing jobs in home healthcare are expected to increase rapidly in response to the growing number of older persons with functional disabilities, consumer preference for home healthcare, and technological advances that make it possible to bring increasingly complex treatments into the home. The type of care demanded will require nurses who are able to perform complex procedures.

In evolving integrated healthcare networks, nurses may rotate among various employment settings. Because nursing jobs in traditional hospital positions are no longer the only option, registered nurses will need to be flexible. Nursing job opportunities should be excellent, particularly for nurses with advanced education and training.

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Stastics