It’s always a good idea to know where the industry you’re in is heading. Whether you’re a new graduate or a seasoned nurse, this list of future trends in the nursing industry will help you.

Future Trends In The Nursing Industry: 6 Facts

  • There will be a 36% rise in the demand for RNs in hospitals by 2020
  • The number of new RN jobs created through 2018 will be 581,500
  • By 2020, it is the hope of the health care profession that at least 80% of all nurses will have a B.S. in nursing and that eventually this will become the minimum degree. Currently only 13.2% of nurses hold a master’s degree or higher in nursing
  • Licensed Practical/Vocational Nurses Current Salary: $41,540
  • Registered Nurses Current Salary: $65,470
  • Nurse Practitioners Current Salary: $89,960

Future Trends In The Nursing Industry: 10 Trends to Watch

1. Increased Cost of Health Care. As the cost of healthcare increases, patients are unable to get the level of care needed to prevent chronic illnesses and diseases from developing. This leads to an increase in severely ill patients and higher hospital bills as well as increased health care costs.

2. Changes in Federal and State Regulations. Changes to healthcare in the latest healthcare act, has brought up an issue surrounding patient care. Patients are worried that if they don’t have a managed care cover, they won’t get the same level of treatment that a person with traditional insurance would. Nurses must be aware of how these changes affect patients in order to adequately treat them and give them the level of care they deserve.

3. Interdisciplinary Skills. Since the healthcare needs of the population are increasingly complex, nurses are beginning to learn interdisciplinary skills. As a result, nurses are able to deal with a wide variety of disciplines including dental as well as social issues.

4. Nurses Working Beyond Retirement Age. The recent nursing shortage his lead to a discovery which is, nurses are working beyond retirement age. Some studies speculate that this is caused by the latest recession which laid off numerous people. As a result, nurses are either feeling more secure in their jobs or are working beyond retirement age.

Changes In Customer Care

5. Working with More Educated Consumers. Consumers are more educated than ever about their health. They understand how nutrition and exercise plays a huge role in retaining longevity and preventing diseases. Pharmaceutical commercials also inform consumers about which medications might work for their particular medical conditions. Nurses must be able to take in this information to communicate with more educated consumers.

6. Education Changes Due to Changes in Demographics. Nurses nowadays have a whole new set of things to learn due to changes in patient demographics. People are now beginning to live longer and the international community in the United States has also increased. This means that nurses must understand the needs of a diverse and aging population.

7. Increasing Complexity of Patient Care. An increase in the life expectancy of patients have lead to a shift in how patients are cared for. Nurses must have a certain level of management, administrative and medical skills in order to deal with the new changes that healthcare reform and an aging population have caused. The latest trend has revealed that as the population lives beyond their average life-expectancy, chronic diseases are also on the increase. The majority of these patients are inpatients that are suffering from acute illnesses that require special care.

Technology Advancements

 8. Embracing of Technology. In the age of increasing technology such as smart phones, connected cars, TVs and tablets, nurses across the United States have had to educate themselves to use these technologies to improve patient care. The majority of medical facilities are starting to embrace these technologies in order to reduce administration time and to increase accuracy in treatment and medical records keeping. Nurses are now expected to use computer technology to obtain patient information, save patient information and even look up treatment options when necessary.

 9. Advancements in Communication and Technology. Advancements in communication and technology together have helped the medical community immensely. One way is an ability to reach out to those who were unable to commute to a hospital or other care facility. Nurses are able to communicate with these individuals in order to provide them with medical information or even prescriptions. People are also using toll free numbers to contact nurses through their insurance companies to ask medical questions, which reduces the amount of emergency room visits each day.

 10. Advances in Nursing and Science Research. An increase in nursing scholarships in research has lead to better patient care as well as an improvement with the way that patients experience treatment.

Source: http://www.healthecareers.com/article/future-of-nursing-10-trends-to-watch/173035

Host Healthcare Travel Nurse

In conclusion, we hope this helped you understanding future trends in the nursing industry. Host Healthcare offers many travel nurse benefits. Benefits include: competitive pay, deluxe housing, and a 401K. The choice is yours. Browse through our extensive list of travel nurse jobs or call one of our friendly travel nurse recruiters at (800) 585-1299. We are here to help you to get started.