Nursing and Healthcare Trends for 2022

Knowing upcoming healthcare trends can help guide your practice and decisions. Two nursing leaders share the top 10 trends they expect in 2022.

While dramatic changes were happening in healthcare before the pandemic, COVID-19 caused these changes to occur more quickly. These changes have helped address stresses placed on the healthcare system.

We spoke with two seasoned nursing leaders about the trends in healthcare expected in 2022. We discuss those trends and offer insight into how healthcare delivery is evolving.

10 Nursing Trends We Expect to See in the Coming Years

The last of the baby boomer generation will retire in 2030. This means changes in how healthcare is delivered will be necessary to meet more complex medical needs. Nursing leaders expect to see these ten trending patterns in the coming year. They will affect how nursing care is managed and delivered.

1. Job Growth for Nurses Will Continue to Rise

The world is in the middle of a critical nursing shortage. Many factors have contributed to the current situation:

• Increased demand for care during the pandemic
• Retiring nurse educators mean a falling number of nursing faculty
• Nurse burnout from the pandemic
• An aging population with complex medical needs
• Nursing staff reaching retirement
• Greater shortage in rural areas
• Job growth is a function of supply and demand. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the job growth for registered nurses (RNs) through 2030 to be 9%, as fast as average. They also estimate job growth for advanced practice nurses through 2030 to be 45%.

2. Home Health Will Increase in Popularity

Demand for home healthcare nurses will grow as the population ages. However, COVID-19 prompted an unexpected rise in need for these services. Home health benefits are a lifeline for vulnerable patients who are at increased risk of medical complications. This includes infectious illnesses like COVID-19.

In response, a new bill called the Choose Home Care Act was introduced to the Senate in July 2021 and to the U.S. House of Representatives in October 2021. If passed, it would expand the benefits provided by Medicare for home healthcare services. It would also open the door to more remote monitoring and tele health nursing services for seniors. Seniors could choose to go home rather than a skilled nursing facility after hospitalization.

As home healthcare expands, experts are calling for greater standardization in the industry. They point out that license requirements are not uniform across states, making applications at the federal level next to impossible. Industry leaders are calling for standard on boarding and vetting procedures. It would include background checks, experience, certification, and social security verification.

3. Care Models Will Experience a Necessary Shift

Anne Dabrow Woods, chief nurse at Wolters Kluwer Health, anticipates a necessary shift in how nursing care models are applied due to COVID-19. For instance, the New York-Presbyterian Healthcare System carried out a vigorous model of nursing care during the pandemic.

There are two key components to how care is delivered:

• The mode of delivery
• The skills of nurses on the hospital unit
  “Healthcare models must migrate from traditional nurse-to-patient staffing models to a more agile one in times of crisis, that facilitates flexibility and supports the best care for patients,” Dabrow Woods explains.

While staffing must be based on patients’ care level and staff competency, Dabrow Woods proposes an improved model during crisis management: team-based with an increase in floating nurses.

This system would allow hospitals to address hardships caused by future public health events or insufficient staffing, not unlike what we face now with COVID-19. Dabrow Woods stresses the need to be flexible. A care model should always support an organization and a nurse’s ability to deliver excellent patient care.
To continue reading this article visit Nursing Journal – Nursing and Healthcare Trends in 2022

Written by: Gayle Morris, RN, BSN, MSN
Photo Credit: Shared from Nursing Journal / Getty Images

The Top 5 Part-Time Healthcare Jobs For Students

Maybe you’re a student and you’re looking for a little something to get you relevant experience and also to bring in a little cash. We’ve all been there.

Healthcare roles and careers often have really high barriers to entry. That’s why gathering this relevant experience for your resume can prove to be useful. You see, why not test the waters of the healthcare job landscape every so often. Maybe you’ll find yourself something that you like even more than what you’re studying.

Now, if you can get yourself the option to job shadow, you take it. That experience can prove to be invaluable under the right circumstances. It’ll give you a glimpse into your future that will be absolutely realistic and you’ll understand the jobs expectations. It’s about as close to hands-on experience as there is.

So as a result, there are many part time healthcare jobs for college students:

Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses

This career path isn’t for the faint of heart. Bringing in a solid $48,820 per year according to BLS, this career path is expected to grow by 9% in the coming years. An LPN or LVN may work in a variety of different settings from hospitals to nursing homes to private homes, the options are pretty flexible and limitless. As a whole, you will be providing basic nursing care if you are in this role. The type of basic nursing care is dependent on the organization who employs you and the needs of the patients.

Home Health Aides

With over 27,000 of them in the state of Michigan, Home Health Aides are a necessary inclusion to this list. As a home health aide, you will typically be performing job functions related to caring for the physically or mentally ill, injured, or disabled. These are typically services performed for those individuals who are confined to their homes or are living in residential care facilities. In some instances, as a home health aide, you may also be providing daily care services to people with disabilities who work outside of the home.

Health and Medical Writer

How would you rate your writing skills 1-10? Do you think you could sit down and crank out a bunch of health and medical related articles based on SEO (search engine optimization) and keyword research, just like this one? Just kidding, your job will be much more in-depth, but it also pays quite well, but more on that later.

Health and medical writers tend to write training materials, manuals, and educational papers on top of articles just like this one. Meaning your research will need to be on point and backed by factual sources. To become a health and medical writer, there isn’t a traditional explicit career path, but if you become specialized in a specific field such as pharmaceuticals accompanied by an advanced degree in that field, you’ll be on the right path.

The average annual salary for a health and medical writer according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics is a staggering $71,354 annually. This is significantly more than the average American family and will ensure with good budgeting that you and your family can live a fulfilling life.

Pharmacy Technicians

Pharmacy technicians, you see them when you go anywhere with a pharmacy which is so common in this day and age. A pharmacy tech is responsible for the day-to-day operations while working closely with a pharmacist. This helps to ensure the health and safety of their patients. They often find, dispense, pack, and label medication for patients coming in as well as work with insurance providers to ensure patients are being treated fairly. The work environment for a pharmacy technician can vary, but it typically will be within a retail store, hospital, or nursing home. Be prepared to spend long hours standing on your feet in this role and working weekends or holidays. Pharmacy technicians bring in around $35,000 annually.

Health Coach

Health coaches play a foundational role in providing motivation, education, and inspiration to clients that are looking to improve their physical health. As a health coach, you’re responsible for outlining practical plans for them to stick to, Health coaches encompass specialities and areas of all kinds, whether it’s wellness or fitness. If you pursue this role, make sure you choose a specialty that fits your passion. Making this a great job for nurses who don’t want to be nurses anymore or non bedside nursing jobs for new grads.

Average Salary

The Health Coach Institute has the average salary for people in this role bringing in a range from $50,0000 to $70,000 annually. 10% of these people also happen to pull in over $100,000 annually.

Skills and Educational Requirements

The American Council on Exercise typically offers two courses for becoming a certified health coach, and both are accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA). This job is also really great because it can be done completely remotely.

Article shared from Linked In – Healthcare Talent Link website. For the whole article visit website.

Image credit – I-Stock