Can Technology Help Meet the Rising Pressure to Fill Vacant Nursing Jobs?

The demand for nurses has been on the rise for several years, spurred by various economic and demographic factors. And demand for nurses is projected to increase. In fact, in a March 2008 statement by The Council on Physician and Nurse Supply, an independent group of health care leaders based at the University of Pennsylvania, stated that 30,000 additional nurses should be graduated annually to meet the nation's healthcare needs, an expansion of 30% over the current number of annual nurse graduates.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment for registered nurses is expected to increase 23% between 2006 and 2016, making the nursing profession the nation's growth leader. Here is a breakdown of The Bureau's estimated increase percentage per nurse employer type:

39% - Offices of physicians
39% - Home health care services
34% - Outpatient care centers, except mental health and substance abuse
27% - Employment services
22% - General medical and surgical hospitals, public and private
20% - Nursing care facilities

Job Search Technology

Fortunately, the growing demand for nurses has intersected with emerging job recruitment and job search improvements, available through internet employment tools, such as nursing job boards. These web sites help to automate the job search and job posting capabilities for industry candidates and employers.

Candidates can click here for examples of how nursing jobs can be searched on NursingPost.net. NursingPost.net is an example of a specialized job search site, which focuses solely on nursing positions. The site focuses on a variety of nursing jobs, including registered nurse jobs, licensed practical nurse jobs, certified nurse assistant jobs, and certified medical assistant jobs.You'll notice that the site offers free search of all nursing jobs by geographic zones. To gain free access, candidates are asked to complete a simple registration process. Once registered, candidates can search jobs and post their resume for review by employers. The process is simple and intuitive.

The efficiency of the online job board serves both the employer who needs to post jobs and the candidate who wants to compare opportunities. Whether these or future technologies will help the healthcare industry keep up with the pressure to fill nursing jobs is yet to be seen.