We think this could well be the wave of the future for the USA as healthcare reform rolls out and increased demand is put upon primary care providers – physicians and nurses. We have more on this in our newsletter (link below)
We link to the article here and also link to our special edition healthcare news letter here
The new healthcare reform law covers a lot of ground, measuring in at about 2,400 pages, and twice as long as “War and Peace.”
Much attention this week has focused on big-ticket provisions such as a national exchange for buying insurance, an end to excluding people with preexisting medical conditions.
But scattered throughout the law are also a number of provisions that focus on prevention of illnesses and keeping people fit. And, some healthcare experts say, this is where the real action will be in years ahead. What jobs will be in demand to service this need?
If you’re considering switching careers, or are just starting to think about where to begin yours, this is the list for you:
#1 Registered Nurse: One of the most in-demand careers in the entire US, registered nurses are projected to generate over 580,000 new jobs by 2016. This does not count the hundreds of thousands of jobs that will become available when older nurses retire. Those following the path toward becoming a registered nurse will find abundant job prospects and ample opportunities. Call your representatives and tell them to pass the W Visa for nurses that will provide a temporary nonimmigrant category for nurses. Also tell them to tackle legal immigration first to get the nurses in waiting in the EB-3 category moving forward, given that this is a pre-certified shortage occupation.
#2 Home Health Aide: Home health aides function as caregivers to the many people who are unable to leave their homes or live on their own. Home health aides may check vital signs, administer medicines, and help with daily tasks. The job outlook for home health aides is excellent, especially as baby boomers age and home health aides retire or advance into other careers.
2006 employment: 767,000
2016 projection: 1,156,000
Percent growth: 50.6
Salary range: Less than $21,220
Education/training: On-the-job training
#3 Medical Assistant: Medical assistants perform administrative and clinical tasks in a variety of work settings. A staple of the healthcare industry, medical assistants are in demand all over the US. Employment for medical assistants is estimated to grow much faster than average, and job opportunities should be abundant for medical assistants with formal training or certification.
#4 Pharmacy Technician: Pharmacy technicians help pharmacists in providing medication and health care products to patients. Because there is currently few state, and no Federal, requirements for formal training, many employers have on-the-job training, which is appealing to individuals who want to further their education without attending multiple years of school.
2006 Employment: 285,000
2016 projection: 376,000
Percent growth: 32
Salary range: $21,260 – $30,560
Job outlook: The demand for pharmacy technicians will increase along with the elderly population. Pharmacies looking to cut costs will shift more responsibilities form pharmacists to technicians
#5 Medical Secretary: Employment is expected to grow faster than average, and job opportunities should be especially good for those who are certified. Employment in hospitals and physician’s offices will continue to grow significantly.
#6 Dental Assistant: Dental assistants are the most in-demand job in the field of dentistry. Here are the stats:
2006 employment: 280,000
2016 projection: 362,000
Percent growth: 29.2
Salary range: $21,260 – $30,560
Education/training: Moderate on-the-job training
Job outlook: As dental health among older generations improves, routine preventive care is needed more than ever before. Also, younger dentists entering the field are more likely to work with assistants.
#7 Healthcare Administrators; As the backbone of healthcare systems, healthcare administrators take on the duties of overseeing vast expanses of medial personnel. As the structure and financing of the healthcare industry changes, healthcare administrators must be able to adapt to new environments. However, administrators are still in great demand despite the evolving industry.
#8 Medical Records and Health Information Technicians: Medical records and health information technicians maintain the millions of documents the healthcare industry produces. Paperwork includes x-rays, medical histories, lab tests, and treatment plans. Every patient has detailed medical records, and it is necessary that these records be kept organized and confidential. Even with the proliferation of online and electronic health records, the medical records field is expected to grow considerably.
#9 Physical Therapist: Physical therapy is a growing occupation, especially for those who was interested in pursing an advanced medical degree but do not want to be physicians. Currently, the number of physical therapy jobs is greater than practicing physical therapists because many physical therapists hold more than one job – such as having a private practice and also working part time at another healthcare facility. Call your representatives and ask them to tackle legal immigration reform first so that the backlog of PTs waiting for green-cards (a pre-certified shortage occupation along with RNs), get moving forward for foreign PTs.
2006 employment: 173,000
2016 projection: 200,000
Percent growth: 27.1
Salary range: $46,360 or more
Education/training: Master’s degree
Job outlook: The growing elderly and disabled population will push demand for physical therapy, an industry that’s constantly expanding its scope.
#10 Physician Assistants:
2006 employment: $66,000
2016 projection: 83,000
Percent growth: 27
Salary range: $46,360 or more
Education/training: Master’s degree
Job outlook: As health care facilities, particularly in rural and inner-city areas, increasingly use physician’s assistants to address physician shortages and save money, job demand will grow.
More on this in the News:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/03/23/health.care.scenarios/index.html
While working on this series, USCIS notified that the H-1B cap was met on December 21, 2009 for fiscal year 2010. USCIS will reject cap-subject petitions for new H-1B specialty occupation workers seeking an employment start date in FY 2010 that arrive after Dec. 21, 2009.
USCIS will apply a computer-generated random selection process to all petitions that are subject to the cap and were received on Dec. 21, 2009 and will use this process to select petitions needed to meet the cap. USCIS will reject, and return the fee, for all cap-subject petitions not randomly selected.
Petitions filed on behalf of current H-1B workers who have been counted previously against the cap will not be counted towards the congressionally mandated FY 2010 H-1B cap. Therefore, USCIS will continue to process petitions filed for:
1) Extensions of H-1B’s for the same employer
2) Changes of employer from one H-1B employer to another
3) Petitions amending a material change in employment (such as a change in jobsite location)
4) H-1B employer petitions seeking concurrent H-1B employment; and
5) Petitions filed by exempt employers. Exempt employers are non-profit organizations that are affiliated with institutions of higher education, nonprofit research organizations or governmental research organizations.
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What Nurse Positions Qualify and meet the Requisite Requirements for H-1Bs?
Category 1: The first category of nurses who generally will be approved is the certified advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) category that includes:
· Clinical nurse specialists (CNS’)
· Certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNAs)
· Certified nurse-midwives (CNMs)
· Certified nurse practitioners (Nurse Practitioners fall within this category
Category 2: The second category of nurses who may qualify for the H-1B are those in administrative positions requiring graduate degrees in fields such as nursing or health administration.
Category 3: A final, more subjective group that may receive H-1B approval includes those who have a nursing specialty such as critical care and peri-operative nurses, or who have passed examinations based on clinical experience in school health, occupational health, rehabilitation nursing, emergency room nursing, critical care, operating room, oncology, and pediatrics, ICU, dialysis and cardiology.
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At an American Academy of Nursing news briefing earlier this year on nurse-managed care and health solutions for our ailing healthcare system, former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala and others sent a coherent message:
Nurse practitioners (NPs) have developed an infrastructure of health centers and convenient care clinics (such as Minute Clinics) that can help our nation reform a health care delivery system that is currently unable to meet the primary health care needs of its people. Shalala noted,“NPs are going to be key to health care reform and must be at the health care reform tables. Nurses are part of the solution. It’s a solution in plain sight.”
Nurse Practitioners (NPs) have provided health-care services to patients for more than 40 years. The nurse practitioner role had its inception in the mid-1960s at the same time that Medicare was introduced, which dramatically increased the need for primary-care providers. In addition to providing many of the same services less expensively such as primary and some acute care, they are qualified to meet the majority of patients’ health-care needs. They promote a comprehensive approach to health care and emphasize the overall health and wellness of their patients.
NPs offer something else that makes them darlings to health reformers: a focus on patient-centered care and preventive medicine. “We seem to be health care’s best-kept secret,” says Jan Towers, health-policy director for the Academy of Nurse Practitioners. Nurse practitioners may have less medical education than full-fledged doctors, but they have far more training in less measurable skills like bedside manner and counseling.
NPs are registered nurses (RNs) who are prepared, through advanced education and clinical training and are granted either a certificate or a master’s degree that is most common today – this is why they qualify for H-1Bs.
NPs work independently and collaboratively on the health-care team. Some healthcare analysts and experts see nurse practitioners and Physician Assistants (PAs) as the answer to the growing physician shortage, particularly in primary care.
A TIME Magazine article published this year concerning nurse practitioners indicated that they would perform a key role in healthcare reform: “Even without reform, experts on the health-care labor force estimate there is currently a 30% shortage in the ranks of primary-care physicians. Fewer than 10% of the 2008 graduating class of medical students opted for a career in primary care, with the rest choosing more lucrative specialties. That could pose problems if a national health-care bill is enacted.”
After Massachusetts enacted mandates for universal health insurance in 2006, those with new coverage quickly overwhelmed the state’s supply of primary-care doctors, driving up the time patients must wait to get routine appointments. It stands to reason that primary-care doctors could be similarly overwhelmed on a national scale.
Depending on the state in which they practice, nurse practitioners, with advanced training can often treat patients and diagnose ailments as well as prescribe medication. And they can do these things at a lower cost than doctors. Medicare, for example, reimburses nurse practitioners 85% of what is paid to doctors for the same services.
The new HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius recently said that “to make health reform a reality, we need nurses at the forefront of the effort.” Let us continue to hope that the Obama administration take the abundant opportunities that already exist to make such statements more than just rhetoric.
The Library of Congress’ Thomas database has a hyperlinked version of the new CIR SAP Bill that is better to use if you’re just trying to focus on any one section. The important sections for Healthcare Immigration are Chapter I, Title III.
Sec. 301 – Recaptures past unused visa numbers
Sec. 302 – Exempts LPR dependents from the IV quotas.
Sec. 303 – Slightly increases the per country quotas.
Sec. 320 – Provides IV cap exemptions for certain STEM and shortage occupations
Sec. 321 – Allows those with pending IVs to file Adjustment of Status even if their priority date is not current.
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For your future reference here is a link to the O*NET for nurse positions that would quality for H-1Bs. The O*NET is the Occupation Information Network sponsored by the Department of Labor and was released to replace the Dictionary of Occupational Titles.
If you missed our first 2 articles in this series, you can view them here:
Again, remember — for citizens of Canada and Mexico, the TN classification is available under NAFTA as an alternative to the H-1B visa for RNs and other professions listed on the NAFTA List of Occupations.
Read more:
Time Magazine: “If Healthcare Reform Passes, Nurse Practitioners Could be Key”
NurseZone: Spotlight on Nurse Practitioners
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What can Immigration Solutions do for you?
We can consult with you to determine that the nature of the position and the beneficiary’s background are appropriate for an H-1B or any other nonimmigrant visa classification, and suggest alternatives if the initial proposal is not a viable option. We can advise both the employer and prospective employee regarding documentation requirements and legal issues – and successfully file your case with USCIS. You can contact our office by email – or phone 562 612.3996.
In all good humor, this is absolutely hysterical, followed by a pretty good interview in re why he left CNN, thoughts on health care reform and more.
Dobbs –who recently left CNN citing a change in “tone” since Obama’s election — revealed his most explicit description yet of the discussions with network execs that led to his exit.
“Jon Klein, president of CNN, told me point blank the network was going to move away from the advocacy journalism that I practice into something that he called middle-of-the-road-journalism,” he said.
Stewart shot back: “He really said ‘we’re moving toward middle of the road journalism,’ a flavorless gruel of journalism?”
Have a listen….
Social Science Research Network: Understaffing of nurses in US hospitals is severely impacting the quality of healthcare and is predicted to worsen in future years. By the year 2020, the nursing workforce is projected to be nearly a million nurses short. The current nurse pool is retiring and the number of new nurses entering the profession is inadequate. At the same time an aging baby boomer population will need to be cared for as they reach old age.
We link to the Abstract
BusinessWeek: For more than a decade, the US has faced a shortage of nurses to staff hospitals and nursing homes. While the current recession has encourages some who had left the profession to return, about 100,000 positions remain unfilled. That alot!
Experts say that if more is not done to entice people to enter the field – and to expand the US’ nurse training capacity, that number could triple or quadruple by 2025. President Obama’s goal of expanding health coverage to millions of the uninsured could also face additional hurdles if the supply of nurses can’t meet the demand.
For more on this article, we link here.
The President held a meeting with 5 employers, a state health department and a union to discuss innovative ideas that are being implemented in the workplace to improve the health of workers and decrease the rising cost of health care
On 5/11/09, the President hosted a health reform meeting, both for the $2 trillion in national savings that was discussed, and for the stakeholders attending. Few would have imagined them sitting across the table from one another not so long ago.
We link to the Brief Room Blog and video and to more about the landmark meeting and the letter from the President to health care stakeholders.