Using Nursing Programs to Heal the Economy

Recently, the American health care system has been keeping a very important patient on life support: the U.S. economy. In many areas of the country, hospitals and other medical institutions are keeping salaries high and provide jobs for a variety of laborers in the workforce. Internet schools do an even better job of treating poor, isolated communities by improving access to education. Impoverished individuals can start their treatment by assessing online RN to BSN nursing programs.

Businesses in the health care industry make up a huge chunk of a state’s economy. In 2010, Georgia’s hospitals contributed more than $38 billion to that state’s economy, according to Appen Newspapers. At a time when Georgia’s unemployment rate hovered around 10 percent, hospitals employed more than 337,000 employees full-time.

“Georgia hospitals are known as the guardians of health care in our communities but they are also essential in helping protect the economic health of our communities,” said Joseph Parker, president of the Georgia Hospital Association.

An aging American populace is often cited as a reason for the strength of the medical industry in the U.S. In Pennsylvania’s York County, 61,057 of the county’s 434,000 residents were aged 65 or older as of 2010. According to the York Daily Record, this is a big reason why the health care industry is breaking employment records within the county.

Employers operating within York County’s health care industry employed 23,600 salaried workers as of April 2012, a new record for the industry within the county. WellSpan, an integrated health care provider system in York and Adams counties, increased employment by 6.3 percent between May 2010 and May 2012, or from 8,399 employees to 8,927 employees. “The aging population requires more services such as hip and knee replacements and surgery needed as a result of falls,” said Barry Sparks, a WellSpan representative.

This explosive growth of medical businesses contrasts sharply with unemployment levels for the York County community. The county’s employment rate had dropped by 0.4 percent between April 2011 and April 2012, but the overall unemployment rate still topped 7.2 percent. In April 2012 alone, WellSpan hired 150 new workers to staff a new surgery and rehabilitation hospital complex.

With the growth of Internet education, students looking to improve their economic profile by entering a medical profession has a number of avenues to explore. Students in geographically isolated locations can complete accredited coursework without having to pay the additional expenses of travel, room and board.

Schools are also choosing to increase online access to nursing programs because of the healthy job prospects posed by the medical industry. A press release from the Southern University School of Nursing cited U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that indicated jobs in health care accounted for one of every five jobs newly created in America during 2011. This increased opportunity was a large factor in the schools decision to offer an online RN to BSN nursing program, in partnership with Education Online Services Corporation.

Keeping the U.S. economy healthy and strong will require a potent prescription of wealth-creating jobs. Online nursing programs are a great way for students to help others as well as their own bank accounts.

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