Nurses, prepare to remodel your profession!

The changes are already behind us. According to 2008 data from the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Bureau of Labor Statistics, a lot of the 2.8 million employed nurses work in hospitals. Although the DOL projects that the demand for nurses would require greater than half 1,000,000 recent positions by 2018, nurses usually tend to be employed in non-acute care settings, including primary care offices, home care, and long-term care facilities. Many aspects contribute to this trend, including an aging population, increased access to health care, and advances in health care technology. As more people live longer, there may be a greater need for ongoing care beyond hospital discharge and services to oversee chronic disease and disability. Health care reform will provide access to primary health care and preventive care to more individuals who couldn’t afford it up to now. As health care science and technology advances, increasingly patients are choosing less invasive diagnostics and surgeries that shorten hospital stays or eliminate the necessity for hospital admission.

Instead of mourning the lack of a hospital job, nurses should rebuild their careers for brand new and expanded opportunities. Below are examples of education and skills that may prepare nurses for the long run.

• Go back to highschool and turn into a nurse to fill the necessity for primary care providers.
• Earn certification in Wound Ostomy and Continence Nursing to satisfy the necessity for WOCN in wound care clinics and residential care.
• Become certified in infusion nursing or peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) placement to satisfy the necessities of home infusion services or clinics providing blood components, chemotherapy, and other intravenous medications.

  Of course, nurses can acquire many more skills and certifications that may put them in good stead in the long run job market. Regardless of the present role and dealing conditions of nurses, they need to sustain with trends and reply to changes by continuously developing modern skills and qualifications.

  Author: Karen Innocent, MS, RN, CRNP, ANP-BC, CMSRN