Nursing and healthcare Employment is the fastest,
long-term growth industry right now. Job prospects in
nursing are good. Employment of registered nurses is expected
to grow faster than the average for all occupations through
the year 2008 and, because the occupation is large, many
new jobs will result. Job prospects will be even better
if nursing school enrollments level off or decline, as
they have on a cyclical basis in the past, thus reducing
the number of qualified applicants.
There will always be a need for traditional hospital
nurses, but a large number of new nurses will be employed
in home health, long-term, and ambulatory care.
Faster than average growth will be driven by technological
advances in patient care, which permit a greater number
of medical problems to be treated, and increasing emphasis
on primary care. In addition, the number of older people,
who are much more likely than younger people to need medical
care, is projected to grow very rapidly. Many job openings
also will result from the need to replace experienced
nurses who leave the occupation, especially as the average
age of the registered nurse population continues to rise.
Employment in hospitals, the largest sector, is expected
to grow more slowly than in other health-care sectors.
While the intensity of nursing care is likely to increase,
requiring more nurses per patient, the number of inpatients
(those who remain overnight) is not likely to increase
much. Also, patients are being released earlier and more
procedures are being done on an outpatient basis,
both in and outside hospitals. Most rapid growth is expected
in hospitals' outpatient facilities, such as same-day
surgery, rehabilitation, and chemotherapy.
Employment in home health care is expected to grow the
fastest. This is in response to a growing number of older
persons with functional disabilities, consumer preference
for care in the home, and technological advances which
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.
Employment in nursing homes is expected to grow much faster
than average due to increases in the number of people
in their eighties and nineties, many of whom will require
long-term care. In addition, the financial pressureon
hospitals to release patients as soon as possible should
produce more nursing home admissions. Growth in units
to provide specialized long-term rehabilitation for stroke
and head injury patients or to treat Alzheimer's victims
will also increase employment.
An increasing proportion of sophisticated procedures,
which once were performed only in hospitals, are being
performed in physicians' offices and clinics, including
HMO's, ambulatory surgicenters, and emergency medical
centers. Accordingly, employment is expected to grow faster
than average in these places as health care in general
expands.
In evolving integrated health care networks, nurses may
rotate among employment settings. Since jobs in traditional
hospital nursing positions are no longer the only option,
R.N.'s will need to be flexible. Opportunities will be
best for nurses with advanced training.
