Career Opportunities in the Early Term Paper

For attracting people in the nursing industry, many employers are offering benefits like child care, bonuses, flexible working hours and other incentives. (Research and Education Association, 1997)

With an increase in the aging population, the practice of nursing will be in such settings which include a large majority of the elderly people. Gerontological nursing will not remain restricted to long-term care settings since a larger number of patients in outpatient settings, clinics, home care, hospitals and other community settings would comprise of elderly people. This would lead to a greater demand for nurses in the twenty-first century; including nurses in the community, at the bedside and in research. Many opportunities would arise for nurses to be case managers; they would teach and assist the elderly people to remain independent and monitor their own health. In the community care setting there would be an expansion in adult day care as well as other services for the adults. Elderly apartment complexes or senior community centers would have a need for hiring nurses. Nurses who practice in such roles would not be replacing but in fact would be complementing nurses in home health and other social services. Apart from their experience and education, they are familiar with and can connect with the people and resources of the community. (Ringsven; Bond, 1996)

In Ontario, Canada the relative and absolute size of the nursing workforce was examined by sector/sub-sectors to evaluate whether nursing jobs have shifted to community and home care centers. All the nurses who were listed with the Ontario College of Nurses were categorized as Non-Eligible, Eligible and Active. The Active nurses were further categorized as per sector -- Community, Hospital and Others and sub-sectors. It was found that there was a prominent decline in Eligible and Active nurses among the younger workers. In the hospital sub-sector the proportion as well as the absolute number of nurses working had dropped. There was an evident growth in the community sector where the nurses were used as case managers. In 2003, home care agencies had a drop of almost 19% in the number of nurses working in that sector, which had in fact, been showing a steady growth since 1999. (Alameddine; Laporte; Bauman; et. al, 2006)

Studies conducted have found that one of the major factors affecting intent to leave the job was due to job dissatisfaction; whereas, psychological empowerment was the main predictor contributing to job satisfaction. It was also found that certain characteristics in the role played by nurses were rated as important and contributed to the nurses' intent to stay in their current position. These aspects included interaction, schedule, professional opportunities, co-workers, responsibility, control and recognition. New graduates' satisfaction is also influenced by many factors; they were most contented with their co-workers and least contented with the professional opportunities. During orientation they also underwent moderated amount of stress due to factors such as lack of organizational skills, lack of experience, new situations, interaction with physicians, etc. Other stress factors include supervision of a large number of patients, administering medications, striving to excel, receiving inadequate orientation, perception of inadequate support from the other RNs, having to depend on others and experiencing interruptions. (Halfer; Graf, 2006)

It was also found that the graduate nurses were dissatisfied with the work environment and were frustrated due to their apparent lack of power for bringing about effective changes. The most blatant reason for leaving the job was the issues related to patient care. All these factors must be considered by the nurse educators and leaders; they should try and understand the experience of the new graduate nurse so that effective strategies can be offered for easing the transition from the university to the workplace. This would help in enhancing the retention and satisfaction of the new professional nurses. (Halfer; Graf, 2006)

References

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Halfer, Diana; Graf, Elaine. (2006) "Graduate Nurse Perceptions of the Work Experience"

Nursing Economics, vol. 24, no. 3, pp: 150-155. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/541778?rss"

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Improving the Lives of the Ill..." Institute for Career Research.

McIntyre, Meredith; Ives, Glenice. (2001) "Undergraduate student nurses' expectations and their self-reported preparedness for the graduate year role" Journal of Advanced Nursing, vol. 36, no. 5, pp: 626-634.

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Careers to the Year 2005" Research and Education Association.

Ringsven, Mary K; Bond, Donna. (1996) "Gerontology and Leadership Skills for Nurses"

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Schumacher, Edward J. (2001, Oct) "The Earnings and Employment of Nurses in an Era of Cost…