Distance Nursing Degree Programs Prepare Our New Health Care Professionals!

The Tri-Council for Nursing has encouraged registered nurses to recognize that many students are working toward nursing degrees at the bachelor's level and to consider advancing their education and their careers, perhaps to fill needs for nurse educators and advanced practice registered nurses. Colleges and universities have been adding and expanding teaching and nursing degree programs online in areas such as these. To help fill the anticipated need for registered nurses, institutions also are offering accelerated nursing degree programs that allow students with bachelor degrees in other disciplines to obtain nursing degrees in as little as a year.

There are also accelerated, or combined, nursing degree programs for working registered nurses. These degree offerings, some with online college and university components, allow licensed registered nurses with hospital school nursing diplomas or associate degrees in nursing to earn a graduate level degree in a relatively efficient amount of time. While some contend that a nursing shortage has eased in many parts of the country, the Bureau notes that there also are employers who have reported difficulties attracting and retaining registered nurses because of a lack of young workers who can fill positions within an aging current group of workers.

As the Bureau of Labor Statistics tells it, those who work as physicians and surgeons enjoy some of the highest paid professions, which can make the time it takes to earn a medical degree more financially rewarding. The total annual compensations for surgeons and physicians in 2008 came to anywhere from $186,044 to $339,738, depending upon their area of specialty, information from the agency shows. Obtaining a nursing degree from nursing school college also can lead to positions with appealing salaries, since nurses earned median annual salaries that, as of May 2008 according to the Bureau, were $62,450.

Nursing and medical degrees can be more affordable with help from scholarships and grants. This assistance can be particularly important when many years of school are involved, as they are with medical degrees. For students who obtain the needed training through schools for nursing and enter the healthcare field, however, their earnings can of course help repay any loans. The real fulfillment might come from filling a need where they're helping others.