Your Information Resource for Education, Training, and Schools in the Medical and Allied Healthcare Fields
HEALTH CARE CAREERS: |
Employment and Advancement Opportunities for Registered Nurses
Boost your career with a graduate level nursing degree.
Click here for a list of schools offering advanced nursing degrees.
Find Schools with Nursing Degrees Near You
With about 2.2 million registered nurses employed in 2000, the career field is the largest in the health care industry. 60% of registered nurses are employed in hospitals, with the remainder employed in physician's offices and clinics, long term care facilities, and by social service and governmental agencies.
Employment growth in nursing is expected to be strong over the next decade. This growth will be driven by the number of current RNs that retire, by technology advancements, and by the growing number of older people as the baby boom retires.
Much of this job growth will occur in home health care. This is due to patients' preference for being treated at home, and technological advances that allow for more advanced treatment options at the home. Employment in nursing homes will grow rapidly as well, particularly in those facilities that provide long term care and Alzheimer's disease treatment.
While employment growth in hospitals, traditionally the largest employers of RNs, will increase, it will be at a slower pace than at clinics and outpatient treatment facilities. Hospitals are admitting patients for shorter periods of time, and moving more care to outpatient facilities.
Advancement Potential for Registered Nurses
With additional training and experience, there are many career advancement paths available to registered nurses. Staff nurses can advance to head nurse or nurse supervisor positions, where they have responsibility for creating work schedules, providing training, and supervising other nurses and nurses aides.
Other advanced nursing positions include nurse practitioners, who provide primary healthcare, and may be allowed to prescribe medication. Clinical nurse specialists, nurse-midwives, and nurse anesthetists are other advanced nursing positions that typically require additional training and licensing.
Experienced nurses can also seek management positions in health care. These positions require graduate level work in nursing or health services administration. Beyond head nursing, opportunities exist as directors or vice presidents of health care organizations. Other career paths include marketing, health planning, and quality assurance.