Booming Healthcare Jobs

Healthcare has become a booming field, simply because of the number of baby boomers who are set to retire in few years to come. By 2020, many baby boomers will have retired creating many healthcare job positions to be filled. Some of these positions include physician assistants, nutritionists, registered nurses and medical record technicians. There are a number of reasons for growth in each healthcare field/job and each position requires a different level of education.


Who are Baby Boomers?
Baby boomers are individuals who were born post WWII (between 1946 and 1964). There were about 79 million babies born in these years. By 2011 January, the very first baby boomers turned 65 years old. The most common names for baby boomers include Mary and James.
According to statistics, there are over 9.8 million baby boomers currently in California alone. This is the largest grouping in any one state of the United States.
Baby boomers represent the America’s largest population of elderly people. Almost all baby boomers are turning 65 years and old age meaning the healthcare sector needs to prepare to deal with medical needs by adding more healthcare staff. Thousands of healthcare jobs have been opened up every year as a result of need for care. About 71 million baby boomers are turning 65 and have two or more decades ahead of them.

Healthcare concerns of boomers
Some of the health concerns for boomers include:
  •         Diabetes
  •        Widespread obesity which is more than double their parents when they were at that age
  •        High blood pressure
  •         Osteoporosis
  •         Arthritis
  •         Memory loss or dementia
  •         Chronic health conditions that are 700% more likely than other generations
  •         Heart disease
  •         Drug abuse


Baby boomers were also the first weekend warriors and this is all they had to show for it:
·         
  •       Back injuries- This is a common problem for older people which can lead to chronic back pain.
  •           Shoulder or elbow injuries- This is as a result of lifting weights, playing squash, tennis or  badminton.
  •          Ankle or knee injury- Has been caused by simple exercises such as jogging running and general elderly activity.


Source

Healthcare Jobs to be filled by 2020

As more than 71 million baby boomers in the U.S continue to retire, they affect job growth in healthcare industry in two ways:
  1.       The aged individuals will need more care and assistance
  2.       They leave more than 24.3% of hospital jobs open after retiring. These job positions need to be filled.

 With these two points in your mind, we will go through 7 healthcare jobs that need to be filled by  2020 due to the expected job growth percentage:

Physical Therapists

The major reason for growth in physical therapists’ jobs is because boomers are staying active later in life compared to the previous generations. With the job growth expected to increase by 39% from 2010 – 2020, there is an expectation of employing more than 276,000 physical therapists by 2020.
Education requirement for this job is a professional or doctoral degree with a median pay of about $76,310.

 Registered Nurses

The main reason for increase in registered nurses jobs is because boomers are aging and there is a growing need for outpatient care in healthcare facilities and care at homes. Job growth for registered nurses is expected to have grown by 26% from 2010 to 2020 which means the U.S government will be able to employ about 3,449,300 registered nurses by 2020.
Education requirement for this job is an associate’s degree with a median pay expected to be $64,690.
            Physician Assistants (PAs)   

Physician assistant jobs will have grown by 30% from 2010 to 2020 with the U.S government expected to employ approximately 108,300 workers in the profession. The main reason for this growth is due to the demand of those working directly with the increased number of patients.
Education requirement for this job is a master’s degree with a median pay expected to be $86,410.

Lab Technologists

Job growth in this area is expected to have grown by 13% in a period of 10 years (2010-2020) with the U.S government expected to employ 373,500 lab technologists by 2020.
The reason for this growth is due to the increase in laboratory tests as a result of technological advancements in developing the tests and increase in patient population.
Education requirement for this type of job is a bachelor’s degree in life or medical sciences. Median pay is expected to be $46,680.

Pharmacists

Job growth for pharmacists is  expected to have risen by 25% in a period of 10 years (2010-2020) with the U.S government expected to employ about 344,600 pharmacists by 2020.
The reason for this growth is due to an increase in number of seniors, meaning more people take multiple medications. More pharmacists are therefore needed to give medicine and provide counsel on medicinal safety.
.     
 Nutritionists
Job growth in this department of healthcare is expected to be 20% from 2010 to 2020 with the U.S government expected to hire more than 77,100 nutritionists or dietitians by 2020.
The job growth is as a result of increase in health conditions such as high blood pressure and heart disease in baby boomers compared to other generations. Education requirement is a bachelor’s degree in food and nutrition or any other related course.
Median pay per year is expected to be $53, 250
7      Medical Record Technicians
The U.S government is expected to employ about 217,300 medical record technicians as the job growth is expected to reach 21% in a period of 10 years (2010-2020).
Reasons for this growth are due to hospital developments such as upgrade from paper charts to electronic records.

Education requirement for this position is a postsecondary non-degree award. Median pay is expected to be $32,350.
Location: New York, NY, USA

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