Registered Nurses Rank Number One In Job Growth

New Projections Underscore Need for Recruitment and Retention Efforts

Washington, DC - The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced yesterday that registered nurses top the list of the 10 occupations with the largest projected job growth in the years 2002-2012. Although RNs have listed among the top 10 growth occupations in the past, this is the first time in recent history that RNs have ranked first. These 10-year projections are widely used in career guidance, in planning education and training programs and in studying long-range employment trends.

"Given the aging of the U.S. population and the increased demand for nursing care, it's not surprising that the growth in RN jobs is skyrocketing," said Barbara A. Blakeney, MS, APRN,BC, ANP, President of the American Nurses Association. "Plus, many of those nurses currently working will be retiring and will need to be replaced in the workforce," she added.

According to the BLS report, there will be more than 2.9 million RNs employed in the year 2012, up 623,000 from the nearly 2.3 million RNs employed in 2002. However, the total job openings, which include both job growth and the net replacement of nurses will be more than 1.1 million.

"These new projections underscore the need to increase our recruitment and retention efforts at the local, state and federal levels," Blakeney said. "If sustained efforts are not made to address the nursing shortage now, both access to and quality of care will be impacted."

After years of steady decline between 1995 and 2000, enrollments in entry-level baccalaureate nursing programs have risen the last three years, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. However, more than 11,000 qualified applicants had to be turned away because of insufficient numbers of faculty, classrooms and clinical sites.

Earlier this month, ANA applauded President Bush's fiscal year 2005 budget proposal for providing $147 million for nursing workforce development programs including the Nurse Reinvestment Act. That figure represents an increase of more than $5 million over the 2004 funding level and includes $32 million for student loan repayments and scholarships, $21 million for nursing diversity programs and $8 million for geriatric nurse education and nurse faculty loan-repayment programs.

However, ANA and other nursing organizations are requesting a total of $205 million for the nursing workforce development programs of Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act. "A modest investment in nurse education and retention programs now will yield significant results in the years ahead," Blakeney said.

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The American Nurses Association is the only full-service professional organization representing the nation's 2.7 million registered nurses (RNs) through its 54 constituent member associations. The ANA advances the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Congress and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public

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