In many states hospitals are struggling to find workers to fill vacant nursing jobs due to a lack of trained professionals. Over the next few years this problem is expected to grow in to a full-fledged shortage unless something is done now. Hoping to cure what could become a serious issue for patient care, Maryland has already begun to take steps toward tackling the problem through education.

According to a recent press release, donors have pledged $15.5 million to help educate new nurses over the next five years. Through these funds, 17 schools in Maryland will be receiving grants that will enable them to hire new nursing faculty members and increase the number of students the teach.

By doing this the number of nurses graduating is expected to increase by 300 students. On top of this there will soon be 20 new nurse training positions opened for those who would like to help educate the next wave of Maryland RNs. All of this has been made possible through the fundraising campaign called “Who Will Care?”

“Less than two years ago we predicted that unless we increased the number of nurses being educated in Maryland we would be short 10,000 nurses by 2016,” said Carmela Coyle, Maryland Hospital Association’s President and CEO, in the recent press release. “Today we are thrilled to announce real progress and are committed to maintaining the momentum we need to reach our goal of adding 1,500 students.”
Chet Burrel, campaign Co-Chair and CareFirst BlueCross President and CEO, feels that this program will also benefit the medical community.

“With major efforts underway to expand health care access, it is likely there will be an even greater need for nurses,” said Burrell. “We have pledged significant support for the program, and the progress of the campaign brings us a step closer to addressing the question of who will care for the next generation of Marylanders.”

Without these funds, Maryland schools would have to continue to turn away a lot of applicants each year because they lacked the teachers to train them, according to the campaign’s Co-Chair Ronald R. Peterson, who is also the President of Hopkins Health Systems.

“Yet the number of nurses graduating in Maryland is not keeping pace with the nurses we will need in the next 10 years. These grants will begin to increase the number of nurses so we won’t face a huge chasm when almost half of the nursing workforce retires just as the baby boomer generation’s health needs reach their peak,” said Peterson. “When the economic downturn ends we will face an exodus of nurses who postponed retirement and expanded their hours.

The reality of a national recession has many concerned about their careers. In times of economic strife many suffer the loss of work and wages. The current state of the housing market is taking its toll on employment. Many job postings in construction, manufacturing, and financial services have been lost.

The longer the real estate crisis, paired with high gas prices, continues the further it’s negative effects on employment will stretch. Even many of those who do not end up losing their jobs will notice that the pay in their industry may soon become less competitive than it was prior to such events.

Still there is one area of employment that seems to be largely unaffected by the state of the economy; health care jobs. Although a lack of money may cause many to lose their ability to purchase various consumer goods, even money has no power over the necessity of various jobs in the healthcare industry. As the general public continues to grow in number and age, job growth in this sector also increases.

At a time of economic uncertainty, one of the most important characteristics a career can offer is security. Since the population will always find it necessary to see to their well being, jobs in healthcare have this to offer. Where as other career paths may soon experience a loss in pay, wages for healthcare workers continue to be fairly competitive. Employers are finding that the only way they can remain fully staffed and to attract the most highly skilled workers is to offer higher salaries and more benefits. Even if the economy continues to worsen, healthcare jobs will almost assuredly fair better than many other areas of employment.

If you are considering work as a physician you have so many choices. While you can certainly pursue a very fulfilling career as a general practitioner or a general surgeon, there are a number of other physician jobs as well.

You might pursue an anesthesiology career, for example. Besides the medical skills necessary to provide safe and adequate pain relief, an anesthesiologist should have a caring, gentle way with the sick, as she or he will be the front line medical attendants for a patient directly prior to a fearful surgery. Typically these physicians perform their jobs in surgical facilities. Duties include airway management, pain control, advanced life support, pulmonary and cardiac resuscitation and patient stabilization after surgery.

A cardiologist, another type of physician specialist and highly sought-after by recruiting professionals, is responsible for diagnosing heart disease and treating cardiac patients. A cardiologist investigates potential heart problems through an extensive patient history and complete physical exam. A cardiologist may also perform various heart repair and replacement surgeries. A close offshoot of cardiology work is vascular surgery. A physician that specializes in this will spend his or her work days repairing clogged or damaged veins or arteries.

A dermatologist, though typically considered a “skin doctor” can also, with the advance of laser surgeries and health care procedures, perform some skin repair and skin improvement functions that in the past were solely the realm of plastic surgery. These physician jobs can involve surgical procedures for the removal of tumors and other abnormal protrusions.

A gastroenterologist, perhaps one of the most multi-faceted of physician jobs, has evolved considerably in the last couple of decades. A gastroenterologist studies the intestinal tract – the stomach, esophagus, liver, pancreas, colon and small intestine. The range of diagnoses and illnesses that this physician job covers include minor issues such as gas as well as life threatening intestinal bleeding and cancer.

Thirty years ago this physician job primarily focused on diagnosis of minor ailments such as diarrhea and management of discomfort or pain with medication. Medical working channel and light source advances now make possible gastroenterological studies of the interior of the stomach, liver, intestine and pancreas. Diagnosis and treatment has advanced to repairs and cures with techniques such as laser surgery instead of invasive cutting procedures.

Additional physician job categories include emergency medicine, with its crisis care and triage focus; and endocrinology, the study of hormones or glandular secretions, and the care of patients with related diseases such as diabetes and osteoporosis.

Physicians can also specialize in ENT, the study of ailments of the ear, nose and throat; geriatrics, the care of the elderly; nephrology, the study of kidney disease; neurosurgery, the study of diseases of the nervous system including the brain; obstetrics / gynecology, the care and treatment of the female reproductive system and the birthing process; pediatrics, the diagnosis and treatment of childhood illness and injury; pulmonology, the care and treatment of the lungs, urology, the care and treatment of the urinary tract, the kidneys and the ureters, and orthopedics, the physician job specialty that deals with injuries, diseases and deformities of bones, ligaments, joints, muscles and tendons.