For Nursing, There Is Continued Growth Into The Forseeable Future, Says Dr. Hariharan
23 Mar 2008
Despite downturn, health care job market robust By Michael E. Kanell For Pulse / AJCJOBS.com Published on: 03/23/08 With the economy wobbling, layoffs rising and prospects a bit murky, it is not the best time to leave a job. Most workers don't assume they can swiftly swap their paycheck for another at a better, more convenient position. But Roxanne Beamon is a nurse. Looking for a shorter commute, she saw that DeKalb Medical was hiring for its Hillandale hospital. "I saw this opening, and I jumped on it," she said. Beamon was hired — and unsurprised. After more than two decades in nursing, she's used to being in demand. No matter how dismal the economy, there are some sectors — especially education, government and some software jobs — in which hiring has churned steadily on. For many years, health care has been one of them, too. In the last year, about 367,000 health care jobs were added to the nation's payrolls. For jobs and better-than-average pay, nursing, in particular, has been the best place to look lately. The bad news for employers is that the surge of nursing jobs outpaces the supply of qualified workers. In mid-January, DeKalb Medical held a job fair, hoping to fill about 170 full- and part-time openings for registered nurses, medical technicians, therapists and other medical workers. Nearly 1,000 people showed up looking for jobs. Few had health care experience. And not enough of them were nurses. "Nursing is always in demand," said Sue Dunlap, employment manager for DeKalb Medical. "We are always looking for registered nurses. We never run out of openings for them." Many more people must enter the field, or the shortage will get much worse, warns the American Hospital Association. Right now, the nation faces a 118,000-nurse shortfall, according to the AHA. In a dozen years, the AHA predicts, the shortage will swell to 340,000. The gap is fed from both sides of the supply- demand divide. Demand will intensify as the ranks of the elderly swell with aging baby boomers. And many workers in that age group will be retiring from jobs in nursing. Other factors also add to demand: the advances of technology and a continuosly swelling population. All those effects are at work in metro Atlanta. For example, Atlanta's population has exploded, with young adults accounting for much of the influx. That, in turn, has sparked a growth in the numbers of infants and children, said Linda Matzigkeit, senior vice president, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. The work force at Children's, with three hospitals and 15 satellite locations, has been growing by 7 percent a year. "Atlanta is one of the fastest-growing pediatric populations. I think we will continue to grow," she said. According to the most recent estimate by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are slightly more than 2.5 million nurses. By 2016, that will surge by 24 percent. That pace of growth is more than twice as fast as for the overall work force, the BLS said. "There have been shortages [of nurses] for 15 years," said Govind Hariharan, chair of the economics department at Kennesaw State University's Coles College of Business. "In every projection I have come across, there is continued growth into the foreseeable future." In the overall economy, hiring has slowed and layoffs are up. Yet health care runs according to its own rules. Marietta-based WellStar Health System has 11,000 employees in five hospitals and a host of doctors' offices. It is worried about increasingly severe staff shortages as the population ages, but there is a need right now, said Mark Rowe, director of work force development. "The demand is there," he said. "There are lots of openings and lots of growth." At the Hillandale hospital, for example, there are two openings in labor and delivery for nurses with at least two years of experience. The jobs pay about $25 an hour — about $10 an hour more than the median pay in Atlanta. Therapists — speech, physical and occupational — are also in demand as well, said Candace Berk, president of MDI Medical, a health care staffing agency in Norcross. The physical therapists she places earn $70,000 to $90,000 a year, she said. Yet hospitals can't fill job openings. "There are more people needing care and fewer people providing it," Berk said. Nursing remains the largest single employment category in health care. Of 10,000 jobs at Emory Healthcare, about 2,800 are nurses, while 1,200 are physicians, said Peg Bloomquist, chief human resource officer at Emory Healthcare. Nurses' salaries at Emory range from about $44,000 to about $60,000. Children's Healthcare of Atlanta has 100 openings for nurses, many in emergency and critical care — especially for those who work night shifts. The hospital pays a nurse right out of school about $45,000 a year, Matzigkeit said. A nurse with a decade of experience can expect about $62,000. "I don't think people know that. You can make some good money in nursing. I wish more people would consider it." — This article was reprinted from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Despite downturn, health care job market robust
By Michael E. Kanell
For Pulse / AJCJOBS.com
Published on: 03/23/08
With the economy wobbling, layoffs rising and prospects a bit murky, it is not the best time to leave a job. Most workers don't assume they can swiftly swap their paycheck for another at a better, more convenient position.
But Roxanne Beamon is a nurse.
Looking for a shorter commute, she saw that DeKalb Medical was hiring for its Hillandale hospital. "I saw this opening, and I jumped on it," she said.
Beamon was hired — and unsurprised. After more than two decades in nursing, she's used to being in demand.
No matter how dismal the economy, there are some sectors — especially education, government and some software jobs — in which hiring has churned steadily on. For many years, health care has been one of them, too. In the last year, about 367,000 health care jobs were added to the nation's payrolls.
For jobs and better-than-average pay, nursing, in particular, has been the best place to look lately. The bad news for employers is that the surge of nursing jobs outpaces the supply of qualified workers.
In mid-January, DeKalb Medical held a job fair, hoping to fill about 170 full- and part-time openings for registered nurses, medical technicians, therapists and other medical workers.
Nearly 1,000 people showed up looking for jobs. Few had health care experience. And not enough of them were nurses.
"Nursing is always in demand," said Sue Dunlap, employment manager for DeKalb Medical. "We are always looking for registered nurses. We never run out of openings for them."
Many more people must enter the field, or the shortage will get much worse, warns the American Hospital Association. Right now, the nation faces a 118,000-nurse shortfall, according to the AHA. In a dozen years, the AHA predicts, the shortage will swell to 340,000.
The gap is fed from both sides of the supply-
demand divide. Demand will intensify as the ranks of the elderly swell with aging baby boomers. And many workers in that age group will be retiring from jobs in nursing.
Other factors also add to demand: the advances of technology and a continuosly swelling population.
All those effects are at work in metro Atlanta.
For example, Atlanta's population has exploded, with young adults accounting for much of the influx. That, in turn, has sparked a growth in the numbers of infants and children, said Linda Matzigkeit, senior vice president, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.
The work force at Children's, with three hospitals and 15 satellite locations, has been growing by 7 percent a year.
"Atlanta is one of the fastest-growing pediatric populations. I think we will continue to grow," she said.
According to the most recent estimate by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are slightly more than 2.5 million nurses. By 2016, that will surge by 24 percent.
That pace of growth is more than twice as fast as for the overall work force, the BLS said.
"There have been shortages [of nurses] for 15 years," said Govind Hariharan, chair of the economics department at Kennesaw State University's Coles College of Business. "In every projection I have come across, there is continued growth into the foreseeable future."
In the overall economy, hiring has slowed and layoffs are up. Yet health care runs according to its own rules.
Marietta-based WellStar Health System has 11,000 employees in five hospitals and a host of doctors' offices. It is worried about increasingly severe staff shortages as the population ages, but there is a need right now, said Mark Rowe, director of work force development.
"The demand is there," he said. "There are lots of openings and lots of growth."
At the Hillandale hospital, for example, there are two openings in labor and delivery for nurses with at least two years of experience. The jobs pay about $25 an hour — about $10 an hour more than the median pay in Atlanta.
Therapists — speech, physical and occupational — are also in demand as well, said Candace Berk, president of MDI Medical, a health care staffing agency in Norcross.
The physical therapists she places earn $70,000 to $90,000 a year, she said. Yet hospitals can't fill job openings.
"There are more people needing care and fewer people providing it," Berk said.
Nursing remains the largest single employment category in health care. Of 10,000 jobs at Emory Healthcare, about 2,800 are nurses, while 1,200 are physicians, said Peg Bloomquist, chief human resource officer at Emory Healthcare.
Nurses' salaries at Emory range from about $44,000 to about $60,000.
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta has 100 openings for nurses, many in emergency and critical care — especially for those who work night shifts.
The hospital pays a nurse right out of school about $45,000 a year, Matzigkeit said. A nurse with a decade of experience can expect about $62,000.
"I don't think people know that. You can make some good money in nursing. I wish more people would consider it."
— This article was reprinted from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.