As the healthcare community celebrates National Student Nurses Day on May 8, we are reminded that it is an exhilarating time for student nurses. Healthcare reform has sparked dramatic change in healthcare delivery, providing new opportunities for nurses. Employers who thought that an answer to cost containment was to eliminate nursing positions are now looking to hire nurses, particularly in specialty areas such as critical care, home health, and community health.
Student nurses can take advantage of the shifting needs for RNs.
Nursing Enrollment Doesn't Match Need Recruiters and healthcare planners are emphasizing bachelor's and graduate degree tracks. Diane J. Mancino, RN, EdD, CAE, executive director of the National Student Nurses Association, says one reason for lower enrollments was the excess supply of nurses following hospital restructuring and downsizing. Other factors contributing to decreased enrollments include fewer faculty, reduced numbers of clinical training sites as a result of hospital closures, and the media's alarming reports regarding downsizing, RN terminations, and unsafe working conditions. Grim media reports give a false impression that nurses are expendable in the quest for cost containment and that the need for nurses is on the wane. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nursing is listed as an occupation projected to have the fastest growth in new jobs for the future.