Who Are Today's Nurses?

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) maintains current information and facts on nursing in the United States

. Below are some facts gathered from the organization's website:

With more than 2.9 million Registered Nurses (RNs) in the country, nursing is America's largest health care profession. In addition, 2.42 million, or 82.2 percent of RNs are working. Nationally an average for an RN is $60,970.

Nurses are moving out of hospitals. The AACN reports that in 1980, 66 percent of all RNs worked in hospitals. That number had declined to 56.2 percent by 2006 as Registered Nurses moved to private practice, HMOs, nursing homes, outpatient surgicenters, insurance and managed care companies, hospices, the military, nursing education, health care research, and other worksites.

There are four times as many Registered Nurses in the U.S. as physicians. Nurses deliver a broad range of health care services in inpatient and out-patient settings. Nurses often are the health care professional patients see the most. Nurses care for patients to a much higher degree than any other medical professional. They are at the front lines, behind the scenes: they are everywhere and do just about everything. People who truly want to have patient contact, and plenty of it, should consider a nursing career

In addition, the AACN reports that the "current demand for master's- and doctoral prepared nurses for advanced practice, clinical specialties, teaching and research roles far outstrips the supply."

By 2016, more than 587,000 new RN positions will be created, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In addition, some analysts believe a nursing shortage in this country will grow to 800,000 by 2020.

If you've ever considered becoming a nurse, now is the time to fulfill that dream. The opportunities for you to create a wonderful and well-paying career for yourself is limited only to your desire and your willingness to pursue advanced nursing degrees.

Even if you've never had training in a health care environment, a nursing degree is within your reach -- if you have a bachelor's degree in any subject, many programs throughout the U.S. will train you in what are known as Master of Science in Nursing-Entry (MSN-E) programs. You will receive training in a program that can take as little as 18 months so that you may sit for the RN licensing exam. You then begin work as a nurse, and begin your school's online MSN portion of the program.

by: Jean Henshaw

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