![\"\"](\"http:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2017-volume-2-issue-1\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/02\/3-300x200.jpg\")
It\u2019s a bet that pays off. Nursing is among the best paid healthcare professions, with a relatively smaller education and training investment. In 2015, RN median pay stood at $67,490 per year, or $32.45\nper hour.<\/p>\n
The $2.8 trillion healthcare industry in the United States is so large that it\u2019s practically an economy in itself. It is poised to grow \u2013 and change \u2013 dramatically over the next decade.<\/p>\n
In fact, seven of the ten fastest growing careers are in healthcare, with Registered Nurses in especially high demand. The Labor Department projects the addition of about 440,000 new job openings for RNs through 2024, and nearly 700,000 retirements in the field. This makes a nursing degree a sure bet.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a bet that pays off. Nursing is among the best paid healthcare professions, with a relatively smaller education and training investment. In 2015, RN median pay stood at $67,490 per year, or $32.45
\nper hour.<\/p>\n
RNs are licensed by the state, but they typically also hold either an Associates or Bachelors in nursing. Many begin with a two-year degree and work their way up the education and pay ladders while working in the field.<\/p>\n
The demand for new healthcare professionals is due to some obvious \u2013 and some maybe not-so-obvious \u2013 reasons.<\/p>\n
First, and most obvious: A generational changing of the guard is underway. The Baby Boom population is aging and they need more healthcare services.<\/p>\n
There are more Americans over the age of 65 than at any other time in US history, and by 2030, about one in five Americans, 69 million people, will be elderly. About 80 percent of this population has at least one chronic condition, according to the National Council on Aging.<\/p>\n
A huge number of nurses is also riding this \u201cgray tsunami\u201d into retirement age themselves, creating enormous demand for replacements. About a third of the workforce, around one million RNs, is currently older than 50.<\/p>\n
The American Nursing Association projects a whopping 1.2 million openings will emerge for RNs through 2022, and by 2025, Vanderbilt University researchers estimate the vacancies will be \u201cmore than twice as large as any nurse shortage experienced since the introduction of Medicare and Medicaid in the mid-1960s.\u201d<\/p>\n
Second: People are living longer and more active lives, so the kinds of healthcare services in demand are changing. Physical therapists and nurses will play a big role in the next decade.<\/p>\n
Preventive care is putting nurses on the frontline, as people become more educated about living healthier lives. Obesity and diabetes are expected to be as much a focus of preventive care as they are of treatment in the coming years.<\/p>\n
Prevention takes a different form of delivery, says Dr. John Maduko, Dean of Health Sciences & E-Learning at North Central Texas College. \u201cMany nurses now work for home health agencies, or treat people for minor ailments like strep throat or an ear ache in places like grocery stores with one-minute clinics.\u201d<\/p>\n
Third: Technology is revolutionizing, and personalizing, treatment. In 2017, millions of Americans will have had their first video health consultation, according to consulting firm PwC\u2019s Health Research Institute. Millions more will be prescribed their first health apps on smartphones.<\/p>\n
This shift means \u201ccare will begin to move into the palms of consumers\u2019 hands, providing care anywhere, anytime,\u201d and nurses will \u201cwork in new ways, incorporating insights gleaned from data analysis\u201d into patient care.<\/p>\n
–\u00a0Naomi Sheehan<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The $2.8 trillion healthcare industry in the United States is so large that it\u2019s practically an economy in itself. It is poised to grow \u2013 and change \u2013 dramatically over the next decade. In fact, seven of the ten fastest growing careers are in healthcare, with Registered Nurses in especially high demand. The Labor Department… read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":109,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"article_type":[],"class_list":["post-132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nursing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2017-volume-2-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2017-volume-2-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2017-volume-2-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2017-volume-2-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2017-volume-2-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2017-volume-2-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":133,"href":"https:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2017-volume-2-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132\/revisions\/133"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2017-volume-2-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2017-volume-2-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2017-volume-2-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2017-volume-2-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nctc.mycareerfocus.org\/spring-2017-volume-2-issue-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}