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By Sam Thomas, Main Writer, Medipursuit
Twitter: @Medipursuit
Many job seekers find it challenging to locate an industry which provides job security with a decent salary. Over the past few years, healthcare fields have grown in the United States and show no signs of slowing down.
For many who look at this field, it might appear too hard to enter with lots of years at school and exams along the way.
This is not the case once you delve into healthcare occupations. There are the top ranking ones, but on the lower tiers, there are careers which are excellent entry points or they can be a long-term career.
Not all of these careers are hospital-based and can be in many other locations depending on the healthcare area you consider. Here are a few examples why the future of healthcare careers is bright for the foreseeable future.
More Elderly People
With modern medicine, the population is living longer. Now the age of the baby boomer is coming, and these need medical services.
This can include home care, associated diabetic illnesses and cardiovascular diseases which are prevalent in this age group.
There are also a vast number of Americans who are turning to healthier lifestyles where these older Americans are making more frequent visits to their doctors.
Aside from this, these Americans are turning to wellness programs, and all of these need assistance from healthcare professionals.
Availability of Better Healthcare
Once the Affordable Care Act was passed, there was easier access for more Americans to make use of healthcare services.
Now under medical insurance, these individuals can visit their doctor and have lab tests done or have their eyes examined.
With this comes an increase in specialists along with many support staff in various fields. Over the next decade, the population in the USA is expected to grow by another 10%. This will again increase the need for healthcare professionals.
Healthcare Records
Healthcare records are now being converted into digital formats compared to paper methods. This makes it much easier and faster for links between hospitals and insurance companies who use transcriptionists, technicians and computer experts in processing these electronic forms of data.
Wellness Programs
Now there are lots of facilities and larger businesses who are encouraging employees to take part in newly introduced wellness programs.
These have been added because it has been recognized wellness goes far beyond only medicine. With the advent of these programs, jobs are being created for therapists, nutritionists, and other departments.
Hospitals Increasing Jobs
Since 2014 there have been hundreds of thousands of positions added to the hospital infrastructure across the country.
This increase is expected to continue because there is an increase in ancillary jobs in the healthcare sector of around almost 30%. Added to this there has been a spike in the numbers of medical providers of over 20%.
If any person is in their training and has any doubts. This demand will continue to grow, and it could be the best time to become a nurse practitioner or direct your studies and training in that direction.
As it is such a high ranking position it will take a few years, but with this increase in demand positions higher up will open, and the healthcare industry will need skilled people to fill these positions.
Demand for Nurse Practitioners
In the healthcare system, many new entrants and students think becoming a doctor is the best route to go.
However, over the past couple of years, a survey was conducted with healthcare professionals. The figures were quite astounding because over 60% of physicians said they would encourage any of their students to become a nurse practitioner.
Annually Americans visit nurse practitioners over 916 million times and much being down to the Affordable Care Act. Openings in healthcare are on the rise, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts openings for these positions will rise by 35% by the year 2024.
When you compare this to other occupations which should have an increase of 7% in the same period. It is easy to see the demand and job security there is in the healthcare field and especially for jobs like a Nurse Practitioner.
The number of Nurse Practitioner positions is estimated at around 45,000 across the country. NP’s also say they get a lot of job satisfaction as well as the fantastic rewards they receive for their work. Salaries are around the $100,000 per year mark, so the compensation is very good indeed.
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