Although there has been controversy over healthcare spending in the last year, there is no doubt that the field is set to grow. Even if healthcare legislation is cut back, the growing population still needs and will demand quality preventative and continuing care. That means jobs in this dynamic field will continue to grow, as well.
In fact, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, many jobs in the healthcare industry may not have enough qualified workers. For example, registered nurse jobs are slated to grow much faster than average, with the creation of over half a million new nursing jobs in the next several years. This is in addition to the hundreds of thousands of jobs that will become available due to retirement in the existing population of working nurse personnel.
The field of nursing has many different job types and professional designations. These professionals can work in a variety of settings, from hospitals to clinics and in doctor’s offices. Registered nurses enjoy the highest salary levels in nursing, with a median annual salary of $62,450. Those RNs who worked for nursing staffing agencies earned the highest salaries in 2008, the latest year that statistics are available.
Another field of healthcare workers that is set to grow quickly is jobs for physician assistants. Since physician assistants actually help doctors with diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventive health services, they will be in great demand. The Bureau of Labor Statistics also reports that this field will grow at a much faster than normal rate between now and 2018.
Another reason that physician assistant jobs will continue to grow is because they can help provide health care to patients, reducing workloads for physicians and costs for clinics and hospitals. Working as an assistant can also mean a very attractive salary. The median average salary for physician assistants is $81,230 annually, with the highest wages being earned by those who practiced in hospitals or outpatient surgical centers.
An additional field of work that is going to grow at a much faster than average rate, is medical records and health information technician. This field is set to grow for a number of reasons, including the increasing use of electronic health records (EHR). The use of EHR means that technicians must have wide skill set, including computer software, computer security, and data analysis.
Records and information technicians generally complete an associate degree, as well as a professional credential of Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT). It is not uncommon for professional information technicians to seek higher educational credentials to become a health information manager. At the associate level, information techs earn a median annual salary of $30,610. However, for information managers with a minimum of a bachelors degree, the median annual salary is $80,240.