Need a recession proof job?

I hear stories from my friends about their job searches..."the only thing out there right now are nursing positions." The United States, and really the world, is in the middle of a very bad nursing shortage that will not end for many, many years to come. If you want real job security and can handle the "blood and guts" of the job, nursing will be the most rewarding career you can imagine.

Over the next two decades, the projected shortage will reach over one million vacant Registered Nurse (RN) positions (Health Resources and Services Administration, 2004). However, there is a problem with becoming a nurse right now. It is going to take some determination. To further complicate the nursing shortage, there is a nurse educator shortage (professors with master's or doctoral degrees). This means that there are fewer spots available in nursing schools for applicants.

A substantial proportion of nursing education is clinical work, read: hours training under a nursing clinical professor at a hospital or community center with patients. Each clinical professor is allowed to oversee only a limited number of nursing students according to state laws. Certain clinical sites need lots of supervision by clinical professors, such as labor and delivery. These sites limit the number of students that can be admitted to a nursing school program for each year.

This interaction has resulted in ever increasing numbers of applicants being denied admittance each year to nursing schools. According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 32,000 potential nurses were turned away from nursing programs in 2006.

Please, don't be discouraged...they are just the facts of my profession. As I recommend to coworkers from my hospital that are interested in nursing, apply to many programs, build your resume and you will get into a program. You do not need to know what kind of nursing you want to do, trust me it will come with time and experience in nursing school.

If you are interested in a nursing career, please check out these important websites to get more information.

Discover Nursing
http://www.discovernursing.com/home

American Nurses Association
http://www.nursingworld.org/

American Association of Colleges of Nursing
http://www.aacn.nche.edu/


References:

American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (December 5, 2006). Student enrollment rises in U.S. nursing colleges and universities for the sixth consecutive year. Retrieved January 5, 2008 from http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Media/NewRelease/06Survey.htm.

Health Resources and Services Administration. (September 2004). What is behind HRSA's projected supply, demand and shortage of Registered Nurses? Retrieved January 5, 2008 from http://ftp.hrsa.gov/bhpr/workforce/behindshortage.pdf.