The rise in outpatient procedures continues to create an enormous demand for nurses and a windfall of opportunity for the nursing profession. Nurses educated on and experienced in operating rooms, biopsies, anesthesia, chemotherapy, and radiology, among many other specialties, are in high demand at ambulatory care facilities.
The impact on hospitals has also been significant. While it is true that there are more nurses working than ever before, there are actually fewer nurses acting as hospital bedside nurses, despite the fact that they continue to be in great demand. Because so many procedures are now done on an outpatient basis, those patients that are admitted to hospitals are either having more invasive procedures or they are very sick with complex illnesses. For these patients, there is no substitute for a skilled and compassionate nurse.
Emergency rooms and emergency care facilities in particular, often the only option for people who are injured or become sick after 5 p.m., are busting at the seams and in dire need of nurses who are quick thinkers and who thrive in a fast-paced environment.
New Opportunities
As the medical profession expands and becomes more specialized, exciting opportunities have arisen beyond the bedside; opportunities that may even surprise established nurses. Tech-savvy nurses who know their way around the computer are in high demand with software development companies and hospital information services departments that design and implement software programs to manage patient data.
Medical equipment and pharmaceutical sales are booming, and companies are looking for experienced nurses to become salespeople. Nurses provide an advantage over other salespeople because they can not only relate to the doctors and facilities to which they sell, but they also have the medical knowledge to understand and explain the advantages of a certain model of hospital bed, IV pump, or pain medication.
Universities also present tremendous opportunities for growth beyond the bedside. A shortage of faculty members to teach high-demand nursing courses is resulting in a great need for experienced nurses who can teach.
Hospitals are hiring nurses to become case workers who act as the liaison to managed care providers, explain why a patient is receiving care, obtain approvals for longer stays, manage records, and help arrange any necessary post-release special services, such as physical therapy.
Other opportunities include new, advanced roles as clinical nurse specialists, nurse midwives, nurse practitioners, home healthcare providers, and hospice nurses for terminal and chronic diseases. Nurses are even going back to school to earn MBAs and enter into nurse management.
But before you hand in your notice to pursue one of these exciting opportunities, be sure you have first mastered nursing itself. Potential employers want to know you have a deep understanding of nursing, the medical profession, how the healthcare system works, and the various roles that each position plays in the medical field—lessons you can only learn through experience.
Education Opens Doors
Hospitals, particularly academic medical centers, continue to provide the most fertile learning grounds for becoming an experienced and skilled nurse. Hospitals affiliated with a university, such as the Ohio State University Medical Center, provide an incredibly challenging and stimulating learning experience by exposing nurses to some of the brightest minds, newest ways of thinking, and most cutting edge technologies and techniques in the field. They also offer excellent benefits to continuing your education to expand your options in nursing.
So if you are still in college, apply for an externship to earn credit while you gain valuable experience. If you are fresh out of school, try to get into an internship or residency program that will start you off on the right foot, especially at an academic medical center. If you are already a nurse, constantly seek out opportunities to further your education, regardless of your experience level. An additional certification or graduate degree can open many doors.
Education is the key to opening these doors. You can't have enough. The more knowledge you have, the more opportunities will be open to you.
