While the pandemic had myriad effects on the world, one of the biggest was highlighting the importance of nurses.
“The pandemic has reminded all of us how much we all depend on nurses, from our first days to our last, and why all countries must invest in nurses now and for the future,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, in an address to the International Council on Nurses in November 2021.
Strides have been made to address issues such as safe working conditions, self-care, education, and opportunities for leadership, but there is still work to be done. The nursing trends that follow dive deeper into some of these existing issues as well as what’s on the horizon for the nursing profession.
1. Ample Nursing Job Opportunities Are Available Among Various Settings and Specialties
The statistics point to a continued abundance of job openings for nurses:
- The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects 6% job growth for registered nurses from 2022 through 2032, mostly due to retirement and the need to replace workers who transfer into other career fields. On average, about 193,100 registered nurse job openings are expected annually between 2022 and 2032, according to the BLS.
- Much of the nursing workforce is ready to retire. The 2022 National Nursing Workforce Survey showed that 28% of the workforce plans to retire by 2027.
Besides a retiring nursing workforce, one of the other reasons for nursing job growth in the U.S. is the aging population. Looking at the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2023 National Population Projections, the Population Reference Bureau found that by 2050, the total population share in the U.S. of people 65 and older will increase from 17% to 23%. The U.S. Census Bureau also reported in 2023 that the U.S. median age increased to nearly 40 years old and will likely continue to rise. An older population means an increased need for geriatric care as well as for people suffering from chronic diseases and comorbidities.
2. Patients’ Continued Reliance on Telehealth Creates a Need for Virtual Nurses
The use of telehealth services increased dramatically due to the pandemic, and it shows no signs of slowing down. In a November 2023 report, the health data researchers at Epic Research showed that telehealth usage has declined since its 2020 peak, but it’s still used more than before the pandemic. The American Telemedicine Association reports that “more than 50% of health care services will be consumed virtually by 2030.”
“Now, patients have increased access to general and specialized care from the comfort of their home or residence,” says Michele McMahon, DNP, academic dean and vice president of Purdue Global’s School of Nursing. “There is an opportunity for nurses to seek remote or telehealth positions. As technology continues to advance, the need for nursing support will grow.”
This will require that medical professionals, such as nurses, get specific training on managing telehealth technology as well as “how to clinically navigate a remote consultation,” according to an article in the journal Primary Care: Clinics in Office Practice.
Additionally, the increase in telehealth visits raised security and privacy concerns for all health care providers. It’s important that nurses providing telehealth care stay updated on the rules of informed consent and HIPAA compliance.
>>Read More: Telemedicine, Nursing, and the Future of Health Care
3. Mental Health Is Still a Focus — for Both Nurses and the Communities They Serve
Many nurses experience stress and trauma on a daily basis, and these pressures can affect their mental health, job satisfaction, and overall quality of life. Awareness and education about self-care for nurses has become a priority in the field.
In fact, research has shown that the ability to handle stress is important for patient care. The International Journal of Nursing Studies published a systematic review of the relationship between nurse burnout and patient and organizational outcomes. They found that when nurses get burned out, patient safety and quality of care suffer.
“Nurses’ mental health is a hot topic in health care due to impacts and demands of the career pre- and post-pandemic,” McMahon says. “Organizations and health care systems are maintaining their priorities with a major focus on the mental health of their nurses and associates.”
Nurses are also needed within the mental health field. According to an article in the International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, “Despite rising international needs for mental health practitioners, the mental health nursing workforce is underutilized.”
“Mental health as a whole has been brought to the forefront. It’s also a catalyst for the growing need for nursing for not only medical concerns but also to address the mental health needs of our communities,” says McMahon.
4. Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) Are Needed
APRNs are registered nurses who also have master’s or post-master’s level education in a specific role and patient population, according to the National Council on State Boards of Nursing. They integrate education, practice, research, and advanced assessment and decision-making skills to care for patients.
The BLS projects that employment of nurse practitioners will grow 45% from 2022 to 2032, much faster than average for all occupations.
“With the growing shortage of nurses in the workforce, baby boomer nurses retiring, increased demand for health care with the growing aging population, and the decreased number of physicians graduates, the need for advanced practice nurses to bridge the gap in access to care has never been greater,” says McMahon.
The public is becoming more comfortable with the idea of APRNs as primary health care providers. Research has shown that the quality of patient care provided by nurse practitioners in the primary care setting is equal to the care provided by physicians.
5. Nursing Wages Continue to Increase
There has been at least one positive outcome from the current nursing shortage — a continued increase in wages.
Using BLS wage data, NursingProcess.org found that the average salary for nurse practitioners grew nearly 16% from 2018 to 2022 and just over 21% for registered nurses. Using this data and considering factors such as inflation and rising costs of living, they predict that nurse practitioner and registered nurse wages will grow over the next five years by 16.95% and 18.69% respectively.
Additionally, nursing bonuses are being expanded. According to NurseJournal, this is also due to nursing shortages and the need to attract qualified personnel. These bonuses include:
- Sign-on bonus
- Referral bonus
- Retention bonus
- Performance bonus
- Educational bonus
There are also opportunities to earn more through shift differentials — additional pay for nurses who work shifts such as nights, weekends, or holidays — and overtime pay.
6. Online Nursing Education Maintains Growth
The pandemic necessitated the use of distance education while highlighting its learning value and benefits. By 2020, 91% of nursing programs used some form of virtual simulation, and 73% of them were offering online learning, according to Wolter Kluwers data.
The Wolter Kluwers report also predicts that by 2025, nursing programs will have fully adopted online and distance learning technologies. Besides the nursing shortage, a decrease in clinical sites will also drive this growth in online learning.
“Remote learning opportunities allow the adult learner to continue to further their education while they work and care for their families,” says McMahon. “This provides options to the everyday working adult to pursue their personal and professional goals.”
7. Nursing Home Staffing May Be Regulated by the Government
The nursing home industry is facing a crisis. In response to this, the Biden administration proposed a minimum staffing requirement for nursing homes to establish safe staffing levels for nurses to improve nursing home quality and patient outcomes. Besides raising standards for staffing levels, the proposal would also provide financial support for nursing students.
The Biden proposal also includes incentives for nursing students who agree to work in nursing homes by offering more than $75 million in scholarships and tuition reimbursement. “Implementing specified staffing requirements across all health care sectors could improve patient outcomes and improve job satisfaction in nursing,” McMahon says.
8. Entrepreneurship and Intrapreneurship Opportunities Abound
For nurses who value independence and autonomy, entrepreneurship can be a good fit. Technology and rapidly changing health care dynamics are increasing opportunities for entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs in nursing.
A report by consulting firm The Business Research Company showed that “the health care services market is expected to grow to $9,816.85 billion in 2027,” while an article in the Journal of Advanced Nursing notes that “the prevalence of entrepreneurial nurses is only 0.5–1% of all working nurses globally.” This means the potential for entrepreneurship in nursing is enormous.
“With the needs of the changing health care landscape, there have been differing opportunities for nurse entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs to have a specified control over a practice within the constraints of their employment arrangement,” says McMahon. “These opportunities allow for increased access to care in communities of need and expanded career opportunities for nurses.”
According to an article in the Journal of School of Nursing, nurse entrepreneurs can provide care “in various niches, such as offices, homes, cooperatives, consultancies, audits, events, [and] teaching, providing specialized services, among others.”
>>Read More: Opportunities for Nurses as Entrepreneurs
9. Artificial Intelligence Is Further Integrated into Nursing
While artificial intelligence (AI) in nursing — and health care in general — is not new, it has become so prevalent that the American Nurses Association (ANA) released a position statement on “The Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence in Nursing Practice” in 2022.
“We often see AI used in our everyday lives with chatbots or virtual assistants when trying to schedule appointments or when triaging patients,” says McMahon. “The potential impact of the use of AI in medicine is infinite.”
According to articles in journals SAGE Open Nursing and American Nurse, AI can be used for:
- Expanding access to quality medical care
- Improving medical records
- Improving quality of services
- Clinical decision support
- Mobile health and sensor-based technologies
- Voice assistants and robotics
“Beyond using it for only diagnostics, it could potentially identify inequities by improving systems operations, lower costs by reducing some of the manual processes, and possibly predict outcomes based on identified comorbidities,” McMahon says.
Unfortunately, the use of AI in nursing is not without some risks. For example, AI can perpetuate existing social biases based on its inputs and algorithms, according to the position statement from the ANA.
“We need to proceed with caution as we navigate both the pros and cons of the use of AI in practice,” says McMahon.
10. Violence Prevention Remains an Important Topic
On April 18, 2023, the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act was introduced into Congress. The act would require the Department of Labor to issue occupational safety and health standards that require employers in the health care and social services sectors to take actions to protect their personnel from workplace violence.
In response to the act, ANA President Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, PhD, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN wrote, “Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen a steady rise in incidents of violence against nurses and other health care professionals. And while this rise has been shocking and horrifying to witness, it cannot obscure the fact that for years, nurses have had to contend with the lurking menace of workplace violence.”
In addition to political dissent across the nation, issues such as mental health, challenges with addiction and the opioid epidemic, gender-based and sexual violence, and racial discrimination play pivotal roles in the violence that is encountered, according to McMahon.
“As we continue to navigate this challenge, it is important that we remain firm that safety of health care workers and front line workers is paramount,” she says. “We can do this through integrating violence prevention and training strategies, improving the score of laws and regulations, and implementing zero tolerance policies to ensure that we remain safe in order to care for our communities in their time of need.”
Earn Your Next Nursing Degree Online With Purdue Global
Understanding these top nursing trends for 2024 will help you navigate this ever-evolving career field. If you want to expand your nursing opportunities, consider earning an online nursing degree with Purdue Global.
You’ll receive a world-class nursing education and the flexibility that working nurses need. Purdue Global offers an RN-to-BSN degree, Master of Science in Nursing, postgraduate certificate programs, and a Doctor of Nursing Practice. Learn more about Purdue Global’s online nursing degree programs and request more information today.