BRIGHT PROSPECTS FOR MEDICAL CAREERS
San Antonio is fertile ground for nursing,
other health occupations
by KAREN KOLIVOSKY
Deciding on a career
or looking for a change?
If so, consider this: One in seven jobs
in San Antonio is in the field of health care.
Demand for nurses and other health care professionals is high and expected to grow both locally and across the nation. In San Antonio, a steady influx of new residents and an aging population are fueling increases in health care jobs.
Training opportunities are also abundant. From entry-level training programs to graduate degrees in nursing, San Antonio offers many pathways into medical careers.
Nursing: Ongoing demand
Of all the health care practitioners, registered nurses are the most in demand. More than 138,000 nurses will be needed in Texas over the next seven to 10 years, according to the Texas Workforce Commission.
Registered nurses comprise the largest health care occupation, constituting 30 percent of the health care work force, says Robin Froman, dean of the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio (UTHSCSA) School of Nursing.
“If you think about who you see when you go in for health care, it's nurses. We're the single largest professional group,” Froman says. “Doctors can't do what they do without us.”
Nursing careers take many forms. Registered nurses usually have earned either an associate's or a bachelor's degree and have passed a state licensing examination. RNs with bachelor's degrees generally have more advancement opportunities and better job prospects than those without a bachelor's, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
RNs can specialize in a variety of areas. Specializations are based on type of care or illness (for example, an oncology nurse treats cancer patients) or the age of patients, such as pediatric or geriatric nurses. Work setting also determines a nurse's niche. While roughly 60 percent of nurses work in hospitals, they are also in demand in other settings, such as physicians' offices, ambulatory surgery centers, home health settings and nursing homes.
Licensed vocational nurses (LVNs) generally provide routine bedside care under the direction of physicians and RNs. Considered to be more of an entry level into nursing, LVN programs take approximately one year to complete. Job growth is especially strong for LVNs in
home health and nursing care facilities. The advantage of starting at this level is a shorter training time and faster entry into the work force, with the option of enrolling in an accelerated educational program to become an RN.
Regardless of a nurse's training level, there's always room for ongoing education and specialization. Master's and doctoral degrees allow nurses to further advance in their careers, preparing them to become nurse practitioners or to enter nursing education, administration and research, for example.
In San Antonio, the UTHSCSA School of Nursing and the University of the Incarnate Word are the city's only sources for bachelor's and master's degrees in nursing. The UTHSCSA School of Nursing offers San Antonio's only Ph.D. in nursing.
Nursing shortage
While there are several pathways into nursing, schools can't train enough applicants to keep up with demand. The nursing shortage is due in part to a shortage of faculty to teach and supervise students. Most nursing faculty members are paid less than nurses working at hospitals.
In addition, student nurses must gain experience in a patient care setting, and finding placements for this clinical training can be challenging.
“We are very similar to other education facilities in town in that we have more applicants than we have seats,” says Karen Stiefel, chief learning officer and dean of the Baptist School of Health Professions.
For the school's August enrollment period, 200 applicants competed for 70 slots. At the UTHSCSA School of Nursing, Froman has seen enrollment cycles with up to 600 qualified applicants competing for 100 spaces.
Admission into nursing school is determined mainly by grades on prerequisite courses and results of entrance exams such as the Nursing Entrance Test (NET) exam or the Health Occupation Basic Entrance Test.
The nursing shortage recently got a shot of relief when the Texas Legislature awarded $7.35 million to be spent statewide as part of the Professional Nursing Shortage Reduction Program. In San Antonio, the Baptist School of Health Professions received an $81,000 grant, and the UTHSCSA School of Nursing received a $500,000 grant through the program.
For those that make it into and through a nursing program to become RNs, job security, flexibility and a competitive salary – sometimes even signing bonuses – await them. In Texas, a staff RN salary for beginners is around $30,000 annually, while more experienced nurses average about $48,000. Nurses in advanced roles, such as nurse practitioners or anesthetists, can range from $45,000 to over $100,000, according to the Texas Nurses Association.
Other careers
While nursing continues to be in high demand, other health care careers are seeing strong demand as well. The rewards of the job – and the security of strong job demand and growth – make medical careers an appealing choice for those just starting out as well as those who are considering a career change.
Of the 500 students now enrolled at the Baptist School of Health Professions, approximately two-thirds are studying nursing and one-third are training in other professions, including medical imaging technology and surgical technology.
All are in great demand, says Stiefel. The four students that graduated from the one-year surgical technology program in August had job offers before they finished school.
“Every single job we are preparing individuals for is experiencing a major work force shortage in the region and in the nation,” says Stiefel.
Many health care careers show strong projected growth in demand over the next 10 years, according to the Texas Workforce Commission. For example, medical assistants, who perform administrative and clerical tasks in the offices of physicians and other health care providers, are in high demand. This field is projected to be one of the fastest-growing occupations nationally over the next decade, with growth estimates of more than 27 percent over the next decade. Dental assistants, who perform patient care, office and laboratory duties in dental practices, are also projected to be in great demand.
Nearly 800 students are now enrolled at the San Antonio College of Medical and Dental Assistants, where the medical assistant program is the most popular, followed by the dental assistant program. Programs generally take 9 to 13 months to complete, depending on whether students attend day or nighttime classes.
The training includes classroom learning and hands-on externships, where students work in the field. Some students are hired during these externships, says Craig Czubati, director of admissions at the school.
As with many health care schools, Czubati sees students at all stages of life, from young people just out of high school to career changers.
At the Baptist school, one student graduated from high school in May and began studying to be a surgical technologist in August as a starting point to eventually becoming a surgeon.
Others come to health care later in life. More and more students are pursuing medical fields as a second career, says Stiefel. She estimates that 20 percent of Baptist students fall into this category.
One Baptist student, an engineer, enrolled in the school's certified nursing assistant program to explore working in health care. He is now pursuing training as an RN. The average age of nursing school graduates is in the mid-30s, according to the Texas Nurses Association.
“They're looking to health care as a way to reach out and give back,” Stiefel says. “Sometimes we have women who always wanted to be a nurse, but they needed to raise their children first.”
For those who want to determine if a health care career is right for them, Stiefel suggests enrolling in a certified nursing assistant course, which takes from four to six weeks at the Baptist School of Health Professions. Once certified by the state, CNAs often find work in hospitals and nursing homes, providing basic patient needs such as bathing, feeding and walking.
At the UTHSCSA School of Nursing, roughly 20 percent of new undergraduate applicants have a bachelor's degree in another field. Accelerated programs can help students who already have bachelor's degrees get into nursing more quickly.
Froman herself decided to go into nursing after she had earned a bachelor's, master's and Ph.D. in education. When her career as an educator led her to instruct nursing students, she was inspired by their enthusiasm and motivation. The more she learned about nurses and nursing, the more drawn she was to the field.
She went back to school for a bachelor's degree in nursing and became a maternal/child nurse, caring for women throughout pregnancy and childbirth and for their newborn children. She eventually went on to earn a master's degree and Ph.D. in nursing.
“I thought that I was going to do maternal/child nursing forever, and here I am sitting as dean at one of the largest schools of nursing in Texas,” Froman says. “There are wonderful opportunities in nursing.”
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