Minggu, 07 Maret 2010

Nursing Degrees Online!

By Natasha Bright

The Bureau of Labor Statistics, a division of the Department of Labor, states there will beone million new nursing job openings this year. That's new positions needed to fill the ever growing health field. That's not necessarily good news.

It's stats like this that makes one understand why the U.S. government started as an online nursing job bank with a $10 million financial aid package attached to it. If that doesn't imply now is a great time to start up an single mothers nursing, nothing will.

Quite frankly, online nursing degrees are one of the fastest growing areas in the online college world. An incredible number of schools are offering a plethora of different degrees, as diverse as the alphabet soup of different types of nurses (RN, LPN, NP, etc.). A number of nursing and other medical societies are also putting up their own financial aid to the pot.

A key reason is nursing has come a long way from the days of Florence Nightingale. They work with much more than just a thermometer, lamp and a stoic attitude. Their work arenas have expanded way beyond the hospital and doctor's office, too. These days, many provide at-home long term/homebound care. The most ambitious have set up their own offices, providing lower cost health alternatives as nurse practitioners.

The number of patients is growing at a rapid pace thanks to baby boomers now entering retirement age. This includes nurses themselves, and the numbers needed just to replace those who are now getting to old to work is also getting larger.

Online colleges have been moving rapidly to help fill this void. Degrees available generally come in four key categories: two-year Associate programs, four-year Bachelor of Science degrees, more general college degree for physical therapists, medical billing and similar functions as well as accelerated nursing programs. From there, more ambitious nursing professionals can consider going on for a Masters of Science in Nursing, with an appropriate hike in pay.

No one denies that being a practicing nurse is an easy field. The incredible, and growing, shortage means working under a considerable amount of stress. Compounding this is many of the institutions that need nurses the most are not in the most choice locations, operating with the latest in medical technology or with the most desirable individuals, both patients or fellow professionals. At the same time, the ladder for rapid advancement is readily available to anyone who wants to climb it.

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