Nurses are a fundamental part of the healthcare workforce. They’re often there for patients in moments of distress and concern, where a reassuring presence can help provide some comfort. In recent years, however, nursing staff have faced significant stress in the workforce — with the COVID-19 pandemic causing large numbers of nurses to take a break, or leave the healthcare profession altogether.

There are new graduate classes of nurses gaining their qualifications each year, whether through historical methods such as attending university, or new pathways such as our online direct entry MSN. Understanding if the medical needs of Americans are being met by nurse staffing levels is critical to the success of healthcare more broadly —after all, when the next medical crisis strikes, it’s important to be prepared.

Let’s explore why nurses are important - from the challenges they’ve faced this decade, to their place in healthcare, nurses have been a crucial element of American healthcare for more than a century. Will the hospital administrators of today be prepared to meet the demands of the decade ahead?

The challenges of the pandemic

There’s one thing that the last few years have shown us. In that case, it’s that significant events can be major stresses on staffing levels at hospitals, particularly when the effects directly impact the health and well-being of staff. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated that — while many workers outside of the healthcare sector were required to work from home where possible, it simply wasn’t feasible for nurses.

As a result of exposure to COVID-19, nearly 1,500 American nurses died during the pandemic, with estimates from the World Health Organization projecting that as many as 160,000 nurses worldwide died as a result of the illness. While many were in the early waves of vaccine recipients, the stresses of getting sick, being sick, watching colleagues die, and being forced to isolate from loved ones, had a substantial toll on nursing staff and their mental state.

In order to address the needs of the day, many governments took steps to provide extra support for medical services - however, the stresses had an immense toll on nurses, with an estimated 100,000 nurses leaving the workforce during the pandemic.

Nurses: An essential part of healthcare

Nurses are a critical piece of the healthcare workforce - and each of the 4.3 million registered nurses who work within the healthcare sector makes a substantial contribution to the lives of the communities they serve. Former U.S. President Barack Obama put it best in remarks made to the American Nurses Association in 2010 - that “America’s nurses are the beating heart of our medical system.”

As a father of two daughters, President Obama has had his own experiences with the healthcare system. In his speech, he touched on how nurses have been an invaluable part of the medical treatment that he and his family have had over the years. President Obama’s stories highlight how, no matter whether you’re a President or a prisoner, nurses form a vital backbone of the work that they do in communities.

Nurses have to work within an increasingly complex system. There’s a myriad of rules and regulations, training requirements, and workplace conditions. Working in tandem with other medical professionals, they are a guiding light through complicated moments - for example, providing comfort for those that are worried, or providing calm to anxious parents, concerned about their child.

Analyzing employment trends

Fortunately, recent data published in JAMA Health Forum analyzing the nursing workforce provides insight into how the nursing workforce has recovered after some difficult pandemic years.

As a part of the research, an analysis of the nursing workforce for working-aged registered nurses (RNs) was conducted over a 41-year reporting period, with data spanning from 1982 to 2023. This was combined with data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey and then used to project what the broader nursing workforce will look like between now and 2035. This is typically critical for the success of the nursing sector — if the nation requires more nurses, this gives state and federal governments time to develop initiatives and programs that help support training more nurses, rather than dealing with a substantial shortage, far too late.

Highlighting the extraordinary demands that the pandemic placed on the nursing workforce throughout 2020 and 2021, the underlying data reveals that future forecasting isn’t much different than where it sat pre-pandemic. While there have been a large number of nurses departing the industry, there has also been a concerted effort to provide pathways for aspiring nurses to get into their dream courses.

The model developed by the researchers found that the projected workforce of 2035 will be older — with some 37% of nurses aged between 35 and 49. Many of these nurses will be pandemic-hardened - having gone through years of difficulty, their wisdom and insights will help support the workforce for decades to come.

An Aging Population

While the pandemic may be nearly over, there are still many challenges that will continue to face nurses across the nation in the decades ahead. It’s important to note that the United States is currently experiencing a demographic shift — now, more than ever, Americans are living longer and fuller lives.

With some estimates projecting that the number of Americans aged 65 and older is expected to grow to 82 million by 2050, hospital administrators will need to look at the ways they harness nursing positions within the workforce to get the best outcomes possible for patients. Depending on where they are, the needs may be substantially different — and fortunately, with the tools of today, medical professionals have a range of strategies that they can use to support patients, even if they’re living in remote or regional communities.

Nursing is an incredibly rewarding career — for the millions of nurses who work in our healthcare system, there are no words that can describe just how impactful their work is on the lives of others. As the world changes and ages, it’s exciting to begin to imagine what future nursing careers will look like. Regardless of whether it’s telehealth or physical intervention, we can at least be at ease to know that ultimately, we’re in safe hands.