Web Editor’s Note: This story was written for the MCOMM 3309 – News Editing & Reporting Class

College students across the nation are watching the news and trends of the economy and worrying about stability in their lives and future careers. But one sector doesn’t seem to have enough people to fill jobs.

The nursing profession has been rumored to have a shortage and according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, the rumors are true.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BSL), the healthcare section of the economy has been growing. In April of 2011, it reported that although most job markets are suffering significant losses, hospitals and long term care facilities have added an estimated 37,000 new jobs. Over the past year, the BLS confirmed that 283,00 jobs were added to the healthcare profession.In April of 2006, five years before the estimated growth of jobs in the nursing profession, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) stated there would be a growth of one million jobs by the year 2020.

Here on campus, these predictions are encouraging to the WT Nursing program and its students.

“I feel very confident in finding a job once I graduate. I know that we are currently in a nursing shortage, which makes me confident that nursing jobs are out there,” senior Nursing major Whitney Dragon said. “There is still a demand for nurses, not only in hospitals but in the community.”

The nursing students and staff in the department feel that the shortage of nurses is only one of the many factors that are going to help them get a job after graduation.

“I feel that my education has made me flexible and prepared to enter the work field,” Logan Lane, another senior Nursing major, said. “I am very excited about graduating. I want to work in Dallas, possibly in a hospital ER. I am not nervous about finding a job, but a job in that certain field. A nursing job will always be available, because nurses will always be needed.”

When applying for jobs after graduation, some nursing students also said that it was encouraging to know students who graduated from WT’s program were able to find a job even before their official graduation, like recent August graduate Annie Dickerson.

“ I had a job before I graduated, so it wasn’t hard to find a job for me. I was in the Healthtraxx program through Covenant Hospital in Lubbock and from there accepted a job,” she said.

With her professional experience, Dickerson was able to prove that the statistics are true. Her reasoning for the nursing job demand was simple.

“I think that nursing jobs are in high demand because there will always be sick people,” she said.

As graduation becomes a reality for students in December and May, the job outlook for nursing graduates is positive.