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Job Outlook for Nurses

Job opportunities for RNs in all specialties are expected to be excellent. There are currently some newly registered nurses that are still looking for jobs six months after qualifying, but this is due to the huge surge of student nurses that have passed through the system in recent years to fill the previous nursing shortage. The nursing industry has a large number of experienced members that are nearing retirement and there is predicted to be a shortfall of 14,000 by 2011.

Much faster-than-average growth will be driven by technological advances in patient care, which permit a greater number of medical problems to be treated. There is also an increasing emphasis on preventive care. In addition, the number of older people, who are much more likely than younger people to need nursing care, is projected to grow rapidly.

Enrolments in nursing programs at all levels have increased more rapidly in the past five years or so as students seek jobs with stable employment. However, some qualified applicants may be turned away because of a shortage of nursing faculty to teach classes. The need for nursing faculty will only increase as a large number of instructors near retirement age.

Even though employment opportunities for all nursing specialties are expected to be excellent, they can vary by employment setting. For example, employment is expected to grow more slowly in hospitals—which is healthcare’s largest industry—than in most other healthcare industries. 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 grow by 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.

Despite the slower employment growth in hospitals, job opportunities should still be excellent because of the relatively high turnover of hospital nurses. RNs working in hospitals frequently work overtime and night and weekend shifts and also treat seriously ill and injured patients, all of which can contribute to stress and burnout. Hospital departments in which these working conditions occur most frequently—critical care units, emergency departments, and operating rooms—will generally have more job openings than other departments.

More and more sophisticated procedures, once performed only in hospitals, are being performed in GP’s surgeries and in outpatient care centres. Accordingly, employment is expected to grow much faster than average in these places as healthcare in general expands. However, RNs may face greater competition for these positions because they generally offer regular working hours and more comfortable working environments.

Employment in nursing care facilities is expected to grow faster than average because of 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. Job growth is also expected in units that provide specialised long-term rehabilitation for stroke and head injury patients, as well as units that treat Alzheimer’s victims.

Employment in home health care is expected to increase rapidly in response to the growing number of older persons with functional disabilities, consumer preference for care in the home, 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.

Generally, RNs with at least a degree will have better job prospects than those without a degree. In addition, all four basic practice specialties—children’s nurses, adult nurses, learning disability nurses and mental health nurses—will be in high demand, particularly in medically underserved areas such as inner cities and rural areas. Relative to GPs, these RNs increasingly serve as lower-cost primary care providers.