Nursing is not for everyone. Despite the popular belief that this is a rare “high growth” profession in today’s down economy, there are reasons to explore other career paths. With a nationally narrowing vision of “what’s out there” in terms of work opportunities, nursing is seems like a beacon, a light in an otherwise very dark landscape. Yet nursing is not the only career option, nor is it necessarily the best.
Given the popular equation of nursing credentials with a guarantee of employment, it’s no surprise that so many people of college age are choosing to enter the nursing profession (or being pushed in that direction by worried parents). However, nursing may not be the “safe” career path it seems to be a first blush.
As the owner of a coffee shop, I see quite a few young people on the job hunt, either dropping off resumes to work in my shop or just generally trying to decide what they are going to do in the near future. I’ve been increasingly worried to discover how narrow the options seem to be for 20-year-olds.
Nursing seems to be the most common answer to the question of the future. But if everyone facing the question of an uncertain future turns to nursing, the common belief in a “nursing shortage” quickly becomes a nursing glut. There may already be too many nursing school graduates out there.
Nursing School Graduates Scrambling for Jobs
Nursing schools have an obvious interest in perpetuating the notion that the nursing profession will continue to see “surging” demand for nurses as the baby boomer generation ages through the coming decades. If you look beyond the studies touted by nursing schools however, you will quickly run into stories of nursing school graduates who struggle to find employment.
Chat rooms for nurses and nursing students are abuzz with questions that are also being asked at large in articles with titles like these: “Why Can’t New Graduate RN’s Find Jobs – Is Nursing Shortage Over?” and “Nurses, Once in High Demand, Face Job Shortages.” This doesn’t mean that there are no nursing jobs out there. It doesn’t meant that nursing is a dying profession either. What it means is that the job prospects for nursing school graduates are not as guaranteed as you may have been led to believe.
Alternate Professions
If your heart is in it, then of course you should become a nurse. There are nursing jobs in America and there always will be. However, if your reasons for pursuing nursing are all based on the belief that nursing is a growing profession with high demand (and therefore high employment), you may want to expand your job search and your thinking.
The point here is not that people should give up on nursing. The point is to suggest that nursing is not the only answer to the employment question and may not be the best answer. There are other options.
City, state and national government agencies are in a semi-constant state of expansion. Once hired in a government position, the job security and benefits are considerable.
Acquiring the skill set of an IT professional can also provide a significant employment opportunity without a bachelor’s degree. In the same time it takes to graduate from nursing school, you could earn a degree in the technology field from a trade school. You’d never have to change a bed pan either.
Sources: “Nurses, Once in High Demand, Face Job Shortages” – -“Why Can’t New Graduate RN’s Find Jobs – Is Nursing Shortage Over?” – – Bureau of Labor and Statistics