subject: A Nursing Career: Your Ticket To Economic And Professional Satisfaction In Good Times And Bad [print this page] The "Great Recession" of 2008-2010 has decimated many economic sectors that once allowed Americans a chance to live solid middle-class lives. Housing, the automotive industry and banking have been particularly hard hit during this latest economic downturn.
And many economists believe those industries may never come back to the point where the hundreds of thousands of people who once worked within them can count on steady employment, let alone a steady paycheck.
Health care in general continues to be just about one of the only jobs sector in this economy that hasn't seen those who work within it decimated by layoffs and firings.
That doesn't mean that nursing careers have been spared: some newly trained registered nurses are having a harder time finding employment in hospitals and other acute care facilities. But there's more to nurse careers Los Angeles than working in a hospital. Savvy newly registered nurses are looking to less traditional health care locations to look for work, such as community health agencies, long-term care and rehabilitation facilities, school nursing, hospice and community-based clinics.
It's still a great time to pursue a nurse career in Los Angeles: Even taking the recession into account, the California Employment Development Department reports that the state needs almost 10,000 nurses a year to replace nurses who are retiring and to fill the new positions that will be created in order to service an increasingly aging population. the department forecasts a 25 percent increase in RN jobs through 2016.
The Nursing Shortage: Nurse Career Positions Will Go Begging in the Coming Years
Many people now enjoying a nursing career will be looking to retire in the next 10-15 years, according to the American Nurses Association. So the need for well-trained and highly educated individuals to pursue a nurse career is critical.
This is wonderful news for anyone with a bachelor's degree in any subject who is looking to purse a nursing career.
If you have a bachelor's degree in any subject (whether it be science, English, art, Spanish, micro-biology, or even world languages) consider enrolling in one of the many Los Angeles nursing career programs that allow individuals with a bachelor's degree to train for the registered nurse licensing exam. Many programs will allow you to train and sit for your RN license in less than two years.
In addition, once you're working as an RN, many of these programs allow you to pursue a master of science in nursing (MSN) degree, a degree that opens up wonderful nurse career opportunities for you.