Any nursing jobs available…..are you kidding me? Some 128,000 nursing jobs in the United States are open, according to a 2004 report by the Joint Comm. on Accred. of Healthcare Orgs. The report found that more than 90 percent of nursing homes lack a sufficient number of health care workers and hospitals are always looking for quality nursing care.

Experts blame the shortage of nurses on recent changes to the medical industry. Since the 1990s, the increase in technological improvements have led to a higher learning curve for nurses. There are patient tests to run, more machines to monitor, and more medicines that need to be given. Care is becoming more specialized, requiring a greater number of nurses and nurses with more comprehensive training. Outlook for Nursing Jobs

Since this trend in the 1990's, the need for nurses has continued to grow - with more nursing jobs open than almost any other position. In fact, nursing is now one of the five the fastest-growing professions in the United States, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Department of Labor. Some states are seeing larger growth than others.

Post 9/11 recession, the US job market has since 2005 shown remarkable signs of recovery. The employment forecast is decidedly in favor of more job-openings and given the bright scenario, here is an opportunity for job-seekers to reap maximum benefits.

In the midst of this requirement of fresh workforce, what stands out is an alarming shortage of qualified nursing staff to fill in vacant posts in virtually all major hospitals. Nursing jobs are therefore available in plenty, and in fact there are concerted efforts to bring in nurses on contract from other countries.

Part of this sudden availability of nursing jobs and in such huge numbers can be attributed to six main reasons as below:

• According to US Department of Labor, aging of the baby-boom generation (those born in late forties up to early sixties) is contributing to graying labor force. In other words, while more and more old nurses are retiring, the vacant nursing jobs are not getting filled up in time.
• The healthcare industry is set to grow on a sustained basis in coming years. Thus, to cope with the industry’s requirement, more-than-usual new nursing jobs are routinely getting created.
• Life-expectancy of older population is on the rise. The medical needs of old people will commensurately increase, calling for specialized care and fulfillment in nursing services. This once again translates to greater availability of nursing jobs.
• With the advancement of medical science, people’s expectations to live well have risen. Members of aging nursing workforce are often found wanting in delivering right quality of service. Since nursing courses have altered to remain in tune with modern methods, it is expected that new recruits to the nursing jobs will be able to serve better.
• Nursing schools for one reason or another has not kept pace with nursing jobs being created. In many institutes, there is an acute shortage of teaching faculty. This has affected in 2 ways. One, many graduate-level registered nurses have left to pursue higher degrees to fill in faculty positions. Two, because of increasing shortage of faculty staff, fresh intakes to nursing courses are suffering. This means that while nursing jobs are getting vacant, nursing schools are failing to admit more number of students.
• Because of increase in double-income families, specially in big metropolises, the need for specialized day-care nurses to look after the kids at home (or in neighborhood centers) is increasing and is expected to leap-frog in the coming decade, resulting in more nursing jobs. Often, parents will not mind paying more to a qualified nurse who can take good care of their children. Some institutes like Chicago State University are already teaching child-care services in their nursing programs.

While nursing jobs maintain an ever-increasing upswing, many hospitals find it time-consuming to recruit new nurses. The procedure for filling vacant nursing positions often consumes several months. After hiring supervisors have sifted through resumes and interviewed interested applicants, it is hospital’s turn to run a slew of inquiries. For example, hospitals want to find out what makes an aspirant to choose one over another, what encourages her to contact recruiting department, and so on. All this inevitably contributes to delay in finding suitable matches for nursing jobs.

In order to adequately address the issue, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) is working overtime with concerned agencies. It is trying to rope in national media to focus attention to the pressing problem of burgeoning nursing jobs. Keeping in view that projected shortfall of qualified nurses is likely to climb over a million by 2012, AACN is making concerted efforts toward enacting suitable legislation, formulating appropriate strategies, and tying up collaborations to effectively address the larger issue. It has developed a fact-sheet, updated regularly, to keep all concerned abreast of latest statistics related to the shortage.

Delivering proper healthcare is a prime concern for all governments. It is therefore no wonder that alarm bells are ringing everywhere to mitigate the looming crisis of ever-increasing nursing jobs.