National Nurses Week began May 6 and continues through May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the American Nurses Association announced. The theme for the week is “The Balance of Mind, Body and Spirit.”
With a focus on self-care, ANA has also designated 2017 as the “Year of the Healthy Nurse.” Each month, ANA is highlighting various health, safety and wellness topics.
“Our focus on improving the health of America's nurses goes beyond self-care,” said ANA President Pamela Cipriano. “Every time a nurse interacts with a patient, he or she has an opportunity to be a role model for good health. And a healthy nurse is more likely to talk to a patient about how to get healthy, and is more credible when promoting those behaviors. That’s how nurses can help change the health of America.”
In another effort to help nurses get and stay healthy, the ANA Enterprise launched the “Healthy Nurse, Healthy Nation Grand Challenge” on May 1. This national initiative connects and engages individual nurses, employers of nurses, state nurse associations, and specialty nurse associations to take action to improve their health in five key areas: physical activity, rest, nutrition, quality of life, and safety.
Nursing jobs to increase 7% by 2021
Nursing jobs are increasing at an accelerated rate, according to a report released by CareerBuilder. Analysis of the labor market shows the number of registered nurse and licensed practical nurse jobs in the US increased 6% from 2012 to 2016 to reach 3.5 million; that number is expected to grow another 7% from 3.6 million in 2017 to 3.9 million in 2021.
At the same time, employers struggle to find qualified labor to fill job vacancies and the large number of open nursing positions in the US is not expected to cure itself anytime soon, the research found. Fifty-six percent of healthcare employers reported they currently have open positions for which they cannot find qualified candidates, seven percentage points higher than all industries surveyed.
The research also found that in the first quarter, every unique job listing for registered nurses was posted an average of 10 times on different sites, signaling a highly competitive hiring environment where employers are using multiple touch points to try to reach potential job candidates. Job postings for licensed practical nurses and licensed vocational nurses tell a similar story with both having 8:1 job posting intensity ratios.
The report also found that despite high stress levels, the majority of nurses are happy in their jobs. There are areas for improvement, however, and 85% of nurses said that while they're not actively looking for a new job today, they would be open to one if they came across the right opportunity.
The online survey was conducted within the US by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder from Feb. 16 to March 9, 2017, among a representative sample of 3,215 full-time, private sector workers across industries in the US, of which 93 workers are nurses. Percentages for some questions are based on a subset, based on their responses to certain questions.
