A Nurse Practitioner's View

How Hospitals Can Better Retain Their Nurses America is in the middle of a nursing shortage that is only expected to worsen as baby boomer nurses reach retirement age and a burgeoning population requires more healthcare. Here are just a few statistics that highlight the serious problems facing the healthcare industry: · More than 581,000 new nursing positions are expected to be created by 2018. This growth is much faster than any other industry, and there just aren’t enough nurses to fill the positions. · U.S. nursing shortage is projected to grow to between 260,000-500,000 by 2025. · Over the next 20 years, the average age of the RN will increase and the size of the workforce will plateau as large numbers of RNs retire. Because demand for RNs is expected to increase during this time, a large and prolonged shortage of nurses is expected to hit the US in the latter half of the next decade. · There are more than 100,000 vacant RN position...

The Future is Bright for Careers in Nursing If you listen to the media pundits, you probably think that now is the worst time in recent history to be entering the job market. With our country experiencing a definite financial downturn and the global economy in serious jeopardy, this is true for most career options. But some occupations are holding steady and even seem poised to expand in the coming years. Nursing is one such line of employment. From becoming a registered nurse in an ER or private practice to offering assistance and education to children as a school nurse to entering a caregiver situation in a private home, opportunities in nursing do not seem likely to subside over the next decade and here’s why. For starters, everyone needs health care. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but we’re all going to contract an illness, have an accident, or simply experience failing health at some point in our lives. We’ll need a nurse (or at the very least, our doctor wil...