Health care industry is hiring despite a job market that has cooled

Scripps News reports that the US labor market is showing signs of strain with hiring in many professions cooling. One bright spot is among health care workers, who remain in demand.

The U.S. economy added 76,000 jobs in health care in March, accounting for 43 percent of all new jobs. Last year, the sector added nearly 700,000 jobs, helping balance an otherwise weak hiring market.

WCPO, owned by E.W. Scripps Company, spoke with UC College of Nursing administrators Dr. Donna Green and Dr. Lindsay Davis last month about nurses being in demand. Their segment was included in the larger story on health care hiring. It aired on television stations and national news networks owned by the Scripps Company.

"The pandemic just kind of heightened what we already have projected, which was the increasing in retirement of the nurses in the workforce," explained Green, associate dean of undergraduate and prelicensure programs at UC College of Nursing, during an interview with WCPO.

Green and Davis, both associate professors, say the nursing field offers opportunities for growth.

"I think one of the most important things is that the new graduates understand that there are options out there, they can really find where they feel that they fit best," adds Davis, who is also assistant dean for APRN curriculum at the College of Nursing.

Scripps News reports that pay is increasingly becoming a big draw, with the median pay for a registered nurse topping $93,000. The field is also viewed as safer from the impacts of artificial intelligence wiping out jobs.

Listen to the full Scripps News segment on a Denver TV station’s website.

Featured top image of students in a UC College of Nursing simulation lab.  Photo/UC Marketing + Brand.