Health Care Industry Bucks Hiring Trends | Sector is lone bright spot in tough national economy
In an economy that has shed thousands of jobs in the past year, health care has been one of the few bright spots.
Most recently, the economy shrank by 20,000 jobs in April, but education and health services added 52,000 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Experts say the demand for pharmacists, nurses and other health care professionals will continue to grow as the nation's population ages, and better medical care means people will live longer with chronic health problems. Wider use of medical technology and diagnostic tests also means more workers are needed to man the machines and run the tests.
When it comes to job shortages in the health care field, nursing has been the poster child for the past decade.
The current shortfall - now estimated at about 120,000 nurses nationwide - is forecast to balloon to between 350,000 and 800,000 by 2020.
Too Few Nurses
âRight now, we're not set up to meet that demand,â said Matthew McHugh, a research fellow at the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy, at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. âThe problem is there isn't an adequate supply of nursing professors and nursing schools to meet the demand.â
Last year, about 31,000 students were turned away from four-year nursing programs because of a lack of space, and the problem is expected to worsen in coming years as more professors leave the classroom.
âThey're retiring at a faster rate than the schools can replace them,â said Ralph Henderson, president of nurse staffing at AMN Healthcare, a health care staffing company.
Advanced practice nurses and critical care nurses are among the workers that Melissa Beckler, talent acquisition manager for Nemours, finds the toughest to recruit.
The health system, which employs about 4,000 people across its child health system, is sending recruiters to more job fairs around the country. To attract speech, physical and occupational therapists, who are in high demand, it is offering sign-on bonuses of up to $10,000 and paying off as much as $10,000 in student loans.
Medical technology is another fast-growing field.
The University of Delaware offers a medical technology program, which trains students to operate diagnostic equipment to test for conditions like diabetes or prostate cancer.
Graduates of the four-year program find themselves in high demand from hospitals and companies, including AstraZeneca and Siemens AG.
âOur graduates have no trouble finding jobs,â said Raelene Maser, the department's interim chairwoman. âThey get multiple offers.â
Job Security
Meredith Hollinger, who is doing her pharmacy residency at Christiana Hospital, says the employment outlook for pharmacists was one of the reasons she chose that field.
She graduated last year with a doctor of pharmacy degree and is pursuing post-graduate training.
âI realized I'd have a job when I graduated,â said Hollinger, who is considering teaching or hospital pharmacy work. âRight now, I'm probably leaning toward working in a hospital. I like the atmosphere, and I feel like you have a lot of interaction with patients and with the critical care team.â
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