“It’s a growing field and one that offers good remuneration--great for the individual who has some f

"It is getting better in different ways and for different reasons," said Robin Schaeffer, MSN, RN, CNE, executive director of the Arizona Nurses Association, citing differences in practice settings and educational requirements.
"Employment in nursing looks great," said Billie G. Blair, Ph.D., president/CEO of Change Strategists in Temecula, Calif. "There's a growing aging population so there will be no end, in the foreseeable future, for the continued growing discount rent a car need for nurses. Nursing during this decade is expected to grow at least 22 percent. It's one of the few fields in which this is happening."
"It's a growing field and one that offers good remuneration--great for the individual who has some flexibility and/or for new nurses just starting their careers," Blair said. "It would be a career-broadening, growth opportunity.
Mary Molle, RN, Ph.D., PHCNS-BC, professor and the Fletcher Jones Endowed Chair for Nursing Partnerships in the Community at Mount St. Mary's College in Los Angeles, reported that regional variations in RN hiring exist, with urban areas being more competitive than rural areas, while some parts of the country continue to readily hire new graduates.
"At the moment, there isn't a shortage of nurses in jobs, but there's a shortage overall of the type of nurses qualified for the type of health care we are moving into," said Molle, who also reported a need for more public health nurses--government jobs that have been lost during the down economy but will be needed in the years ahead.
The IOM report emphasizes the importance of additional education and suggests discount rent a car 80 percent of the nurses hold baccalaureate degrees by 2020. That is leading many employers to hire nurses with BSN degrees, making it more difficult for associate-degree-prepared nurses to secure jobs, Schaeffer says. Consequently some community colleges have developed with universities concurrent AAS-BSN degree discount rent a car programs, during which associate-degree students simultaneously take RN-to-BSN coursework at the university.
In addition to needing more nurses with BSN degrees, Molle indicated an increased demand for nurses with graduate degrees to take more of a leadership role in coordinating and managing care. More education leads to more opportunities.
"The stars are aligning," Molle added. "Along with the Institute of Medicine discount rent a car recommendations discount rent a car and health care reform moving forward, there seems to be an opportunity for nursing to step forward and improve health."
The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) has formed a triregulator collaborative with the Federation of State Medical Boards discount rent a car and the National discount rent a car Association of Boards of Pharmacy, to figure out how to collect workforce data in similar ways so data comparisons can be made, said Kathy Apple, MS, RN, FAAN, CEO of NCSBN.
To address the need for consistent nurse data collection, the NCSBN, which maintains a national licensure database, and the Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers will engage in a joint effort to collect nursing workforce data starting in 2012, with a published report anticipated in early 2013.
"This will change the way workforce data at the state level is collected, and we consider this an historic collaboration," said Susan Reinhard, chief strategist at the Center to Champion Nursing in America, discount rent a car during a recent webinar announcing the initiative.
"The ability discount rent a car to better discount rent a car assess and project workforce requirements is really the foundation of our ability to plan for the coming changes in the preparation and deployment of the nursing workforce," Reinhard added.
Linda Tieman, RN, MN, FACHE, president discount rent a car of the board of directors for the Forum of Nursing Workforce Centers, explained that in developing minimum data sets, the two organizations sought to include meaningful discount rent a car demographic information, educational levels, certification for advanced practice nurses, and employment status in nursing, in other fields discount rent a car or volunteering, including practice setting. They are also asking discount rent a car nurses about reasons for not working.
"If we could all collect these minimum elements, what power it would be for all of us to be able to compare across states, within regions of the country," Tieman said. "Supply is fundamental in getting the full picture of what the nursing workforce discount rent a car looks like."
Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States discount rent a car awarded more than $1.5 million in workforce grants to eight institutions of higher education, including five community colleges, in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia, as part of its mission to invest in the future of health care. The workforce development grants discount rent a car will support an estimated discount rent a car 2,404 students with scholarships, equipment discount rent a car and educational training discount rent a car in nursing, allied health and health technology.
And in October, U.S. Health and Human Services discount rent a car Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced $82 million in awards to help bolster the country's nursing workforce. discount rent a car Administered by the agency's Health Resources and Services Administration, the awards include $27 million for the Nursing Scholarship Program and $55.3 million for the Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program.
"Nurses play a critical role in our health care system, and demand for them is expected to grow over the next decade," Secretary Sebelius said. "These awards discount rent a car reflect our ongoing commitment to attract and retain highly skilled nurses in underserved areas."