Did you know that Registered Nurses (RN) is one of the largest groups in the U.S. workforce and that nursing is the fastest growing career in the country?  With so many nurses and nursing students, what does this mean for the future?

Continued growth!
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Annual Report released in December of last year indicated that 581,500 new RN jobs will be created by the end of 2018, with a 36% rise in demand for RNs in hospitals alone, by 2020.
This increase in demand for RNs can be contributed to several factors worldwide:
People are living longer.  Greater life expectancies and advances in modern medicine mean that people will need care longer.  By 2020, it is estimated that more than 20% of the population will be 65 and older.
Specialist Care.  More and more nurses are migrating from the hospitals to other facets of healthcare, like complementary care, specialist care, physical therapy, long-term care and hospice care.
Globalization.  With the linking of healthcare for individuals around the world and the option to travel to different countries to work, the demand will eventually outweigh the supply of nurses.
Outpatient Care. Hospitals are being pressured more and more each day to release patients earlier.  As such, more nurses are needed for outpatient care centers to give recovering patients the time and attention they need to continue to heal.
Home Care Services. Hospital jobs are expected to grow 17% by 2018.  But home healthcare jobs are expected to grow by 33%.

Barco’s Nightingales Foundation is proud to support and encourage women and men to embrace the professional of nursing, and to recognize those who do.  In our next blog we will explore some of the variety of career paths available in nursing today.