The Need for Nurses

We may keep hearing about the nursing shortage, but have you ever wondered what’s behind it?

The potential for a nursing shortage isn’t a new concern, just one that is becoming more prevalent. One of the main reasons is that the baby boomers are aging, which has led to an increasing demand for healthcare. An aging population generally has more chronic conditions, which means more need for care from providers, and you guessed it, a need for more nurses. According to the National Council on Aging, 80 percent of older adults have at least one chronic condition, and 68 percent have at least two. All these patients with chronic conditions, means more nurses are needed to care for them.

An aging population also means an aging workforce, which means more people retiring, and that’s especially true for nursing. Today, nurses make up the largest segment of the entire healthcare workforce of the United States (3 million strong)! But even that number doesn’t match the demand. There are simply not enough schools to keep pace with the demand for new nurses. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that by 2022 there will be over a million openings for nurses nationwide. With a large number of experienced nurses nearing retirement, this means nursing positions will continue to open.

Take a look at this great article from The Atlantic, which provides a deep dive into the factors driving the nursing shortage, as well as what happens when healthcare facilities are low on nurses. They also discuss potential solutions to help ease the nursing shortage from national licensure for nurses, making it easier for nurses to move to places with a higher need, to opening up the path to a nursing degree, with more options in rural communities.

At Galen, we know one thing, the country needs nurses, and nursing needs you!

Nurses in the Top 100 of Best Jobs

Great news for nurses! Nursing continues to rank highly on best jobs in the U.S. list! You’ve probably already heard that nurses rank at the top of the list for honesty and ethics, but that’s not all. Apparently, out of all jobs one can have in the U.S. (didn’t count, but it’s a lot), nursing is considered up there with the best!

U.S. News and World Report just published its annual list of the best jobs and five nursing categories made it into the top 100.

4. Nurse anesthetists
5. Nurse practitioners
6. Registered nurses
7. Licensed practical and vocational nurses
8. Nurse midwives

Why do nurses routinely rank so high on these lists? Good salaries, low unemployment, and work-life balance are just a few reasons. Plus, the healthcare sector continues to grow, meaning demand for nursing jobs will continue to rise.

Susannah Snider, Careers Editor at U.S. News, said, “Health care support occupations, for which demand is expected to grow as baby boomers age, are great opportunities for entry-level job seekers or those making a mid-career change.”

Simple Health Changes

As the Marketing Director at Galen, you can imagine I’d be excited about our new blog. So much so, that I agreed to write something for it. Sure! I said, months ago, thinking I would have plenty of time to come up with something relevant to nursing students, education and how cool I think it is that so many of you have crazy busy lives, yet are figuring out how to fit in nursing school education to pursue this great career.

But I keep finding myself wanting to write about something else, besides Galen and nursing, that is near and dear to my heart. Because I see and hear first-hand how hard nursing students work and I put two and two together–that you are not always putting yourself, and your health, first. And don’t roll your eyes, yes, your health. In my spare time, I am a bit of a fitness and health fanatic. I teach spinning classes and am a long-distance runner (ran in the Boston Marathon this past April, but that is for another blog post).

I would like to make a few suggestions that are not a diet, they are not a New Year’s resolution, and they are simple, easy things we can do to improve our own health. We are the first line of defense to illness and disease. Not the health industry, not your doctor and not you when you become a nurse and start self-diagnosing your own symptoms! There are easy things we can do that will make a difference over time. Here goes:

1. Take the stairs! If you have to go only one flight, you can manage the stairs. I promise.
2. Limit the soda (pop if you’re from up north). I’m not saying cut it out, but talk about empty calories that serve absolutely no purpose and have been linked to all sorts of baaaad stuff.
3. Drink water.
4. Drink more water.
5. Refer to 2 and 3.
6. Instead of mayonnaise on the sandwich, try just mustard. It won’t kill you. I promise.
7. Park in the last spot, furthest away from the front door (assuming it’s not raining, and you are not late for class).
8. Processed food is a part of life. I get that. But when you can, go au naturel.
9. Bring munchies from home. An apple, an orange, a banana with a little plastic container of peanut butter, almonds, throw a box of Triscuits in your backpack.
10. Speaking of oranges, don’t drink fruit juice. Fruit is sugar enough naturally. Fruit juice, killer. And to, forget your vitamins is not an excuse. Sugar, like in #2, is linked to all sorts of baaaaad stuff. Eat the real thing and save your thirst quencher for water!!

See, that wasn’t so bad! You don’t have to turn your life upside down and make all sorts of hard to keep promises to do something better for yourself now. Little things add up. If you want to make bigger changes, sometimes you have to start small.

Yours in health, and to a great future!

— Anna Kitson is Marketing Director for Galen College of Nursing.