I still say 'Where are the jobs?' http://www.wowt.com/home/headlines/N...115517994.html

As babyboomers age, more of them will be in need of health care. And many of those baby boomers are nurses and will be retiring soon, adding to the nursing shortage.

The recent economic downturn has eased the nursing shortage somewhat. Many older nurses have put off retirement for now. But recent studies estimate that, over the next 15 years, the nursing shortage could grow to as much as 500,000.

Hospitals and nursing schools are working together to address the problem. But nursing schools like Clarkson College in Omaha are already at capacity.

Many other nursing schools across the country are having a hard time finding enough qualified faculty.

Brandon Larreau is in his second year of nursing school at Clarkson College. He wants to be able to help people in the same way that his mother does, as an nurse in the emergency room.

"I just enjoy helping people," said Larreau. "In a hospital setting you get to do that; And help people get better and improve their life."

But he also likes the idea of job security.

"There are just so many opportunities in the field to where you will pretty much always have a job, because people are always going to get sick," Larreau said.
Heather Bryant is also a second year student at Clarkson.

She says, "I really enjoy being able to see that I touched somebody else's life, and that I may have made their life a little bit better maybe just that day."

Nursing student Brandi Scott likes the idea of having a career that's in demand. "With a lot of the baby boom generation that went into nursing now retiring, it's nice to know that there are positions opening, and I'll never be in need of a job."