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Big Demand for Nurses Projected

Among all occupations, registered nurses have the largest projected 10-year job growth, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The demand for nurses in the year 2012 is expected to be 2.9 million, up from 2.3 million in 2002.The total job openings, including new jobs and replacing nurses who no longer are practicing, will be more than 1.1 million from 2002 to 2012. Although programs offering bachelor's degrees have increased in the past few years, there is still a shortfall in faculty, classrooms and clinical sites to accommodate all qualified applicants.

The Nurse Reinvestment Act was passed in 2002 to address the critical shortage of nursing personnel in our health care system. President Bush's proposed 2005 funding for the Nurse Reinvestment Act is $147 million, an increase of merely $5 million over 2004.

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