Capstone Hub: Nursing Careers and Their Increase to the Year 2100 - Robotics, Space Medicine and More

If you have seen the film or read the book Bicentennial Man by the late author Sir Arthur C. Clarke, You may recall that nurses attended each of the very aged that were near the 200th birthday mark in a future century. Sir Arthur predicted in a timeline he prepared in the mid-to-late 20th Century that immortality would be achieved by medical science sometime after the year 2100. While human DNA is programmed to an age-limit of 113 years give or take a few, immortality is still unreachable through physical means for us homo sapiens. However, lifespans are adding years to themselves - and still a few more for females than for male cohorts.

The Boomers are retiring in greater numbers in the 2010s, but the Millennials almost match their number as a cohort and will retire in large numbers beginning in the 2030s. Nothing is limiting the growth of the human population, even given disaster, illness, and abortion, so population numbers are set to increase and the openings for healthcare providers needed with them. Bicentennial Man and its spinoffs and inspired works of other authors bring to mind a possibility of human-robotic hybrids. Sci-fi fans see "Borg", but so many military personnel are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan in the 2010s with three limbs replaced by electronic prosthesis that the possibility is enduring. Already, medical science experiments with building electronics into the interior of limb stumps with promise for additional advances. Regardless of the Borg, our more reachable medical advances to the year 2100 - including new cosmetic surgeries, artificial bones and organs, growing new organs, and advanced dental implants - will all require additional nursing positions.

Nursing jobs of all types will increase throughout the 21st Century, not only because of the aging and increasing populations on Earth, but also as a result of exploration into outer space and to the bottoms of our oceans. As we search for additional resources and living spaces, the need for medical and health related services will increase proportionately. In addition, new fields of nursing will emerge, like that of Space Medicine that began to congeal in the 1990s. Underwater Medicine is sure to follow and increasing numbers of projects send scientists and explorers deeper into the oceans each year. An example of that already is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, for which specialist nurses are needed.

The US Federal Department of Labor's Occupational Outlook states that Registered Nursing is the largest healthcare field existing today, with 2.6 million jobs already filled in 2010 - 2011. The job market for RNs is forecasted to increase by 22% in the decade 2008 - 2018, which is much faster than other occupations on average.

Nursing shortages exist in some areas of the United States, but employers are attacking this problem with the several attractions of Travel Nursing (see link below). These features include travel expenses, higher pay, increased benefits, and rent/mortgage payment for the working period of 3 to 12 months. Travel Nurses are sometimes able to be hired in their own cities with these added benefits, because of shortages at some hospitals; while others are able to be posted in exotic locations such as the Hawaiian Islands and other sites known for travel.

Required education will usually involves a Associate's or Bachelor's Degree or a Nursing School Certificate, advanced nursing positions require a Master's Degree. At the same time, one can begin as a Nursing Aide and study all the way up to Physician/MD, sometimes with tuition reimbursement from a local hospital or clinic employer (see links under "Training", below).

1. US Air Force
2. Kaiser Permanente
3. HCA
4. Maxim Healthcare Services
5. Travel Rehab – Travel Nursing and other Heathcare Professions
6. Medical Staffing Network
7. HCR Manorcare
8. Favorite Healthcare Staffing
9. American Mobil Healthcare
10. Gentiva Health Services
11. Tenet Healthcare
12. All About Staffing
13. HCA Medical Center of Lewisville
14. St. Mary’s Medical Center – various locations
15. HCA Healthcare
16. Bayada Nurses
17. Swedish Medical Center
18. DaVita
19. Nurses Rx
20. Interim Healthcare
21. Mollen Immunization Clinics
22. Community Health Systems
23. Trustaff
24. Providence Health & Services
25. Catholic Health Initiatives

Access the series of links below for descriptions and reviews of the types of nursing and related careers available now and in the near future. The American Space Medicine Association link provides a list of scholarships, training programs, and other much-needed information for a successful career in aerospace or undersea health, medicine, or research.