According to a recent report on job growth in June 2017, the US economy added 222,000 new jobs over the last month, maintaining an unemployment rate of 4.4 percent as reported by the Wall Street Journal . Healthcare was the biggest contributor to the job market, introducing 37,000 new positions, a great outlook for the future of nursing.

Nursing is a great job in our current market, offering high job demand, work satisfaction, and salary for new graduates. Experts in the field expect continued job growth for nurses and hope that there will be enough nurses to fill those jobs. Nurses are also often secure in their roles with a history of hospitals continuing to hire during periods of recession.

In a December 2015 Registered Nurse (RN) job report, the Bureau of Labor Statistics published the following prediction:

“Employment of registered nurses is projected to grow 16 percent from 2014 to 2024, much faster than the average for all occupations. Growth will occur for a number of reasons, including an increased emphasis on preventive care; growing rates of chronic conditions, such as diabetes and obesity; and demand for healthcare services from the baby-boom population, as they live longer and more active lives.”

So what does all of this mean for the future of nursing? Hospitals and healthcare facilities realize that the demand for nurses will continue to increase, especially as our population continues to age in conjunction with a rapidly expanding healthcare industry. Nurse educators and hospital administrators predict that advanced practice nursing roles (like nurse anesthetists, nurse midwives, and nurse practitioners) will continue to grow, offering new and expanded opportunities, and specialty roles like geriatrics and clinical informatics will become increasingly important.

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