and recruiting
educators from diverse cultural backgrounds to relieve the serious
shortage of nursing school faculty. Therefore, more loans and scholarships
for master's and PhDs would also have to be in place, and the colleges
would have to pay the instructors more money.If the nursing shortage
continues, hospitals may have to be reserved only for the very sickest.
That means that the number of outpatient care will increase, as will
the need for home health care nurses. They will also serve more prominent
roles in clinics, consulting firms, insurance companies, and software
and technology companies. Nurses in the future would probably do much
more population-based or community health care. They will identify
risks and establish priorities for specific populations and groups.
They will provide community education and work with
employers and insurance payers to develop programs that save money
as well as promote health.Nurse practitioners have a bright future
especially in geriatrics and gerontology. With the baby boomer generation
reaching retirement, those nurses who are themselves baby boomers
but are not yet ready to retire may find themselves in the role of
consultants. They would be the geriatric providers of choice because
they would have a better understanding of aging.As technology and
research progresses, in linking chronic illnesses to behaviors, nurses
would focus more on preventing the illnesses rather than treatment.
Also, drugs designed for healthcare that targets diseases before they
start, and identifying risks for those diseases will enhance preventive
care. This means that people are going to have to learn to take care
of themselves more.
The nursing shortage and rising health care costs will also put pressure
on the health care system to change from an illness model to a wellness
and prevention model.Therefore, no matter what the future holds, nurses
will have be prepared to keep learning, growing, and expanding and
changing alongside he transformative role of the healthcare profession.
That obviously comes easier when one is passionate about the career.Sophia
P. is the editor of http://www.about-elearning.com/online-nursing-degrees.html
and http://www.colleges-and-careers.com/nursing-colleges.html
Information and resource guide e-learning and college education. Resources
include information on campus and online distance learning, books,
software, and tools.Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sophia_Peters
