Nursing jobs projected to develop in Florida

Nursing jobs in Florida are forecast to grow at a pace of 2.4 percent annually, according to state projections cited by The Sun-Sentinel.

November saw the advertisement of 14,000 nursing jobs in Florida, according to the publication. Healthcare, the state's third-largest industry, created 963,000 jobs during the month of December. By 2019, healthcare will see the creation of almost 177,000 jobs largely because of the quickly developing elderly population.

Another factor that will create more opportunities for nurses is the retirement of those nurses who opted to continue working rather than retire when the economic downturn set in. Their postponed retirement is likely to occur within the coming years.

"We've had an artificial bubble. But nurses are not going to continue to work four and five 12-hour shifts a week," said executive director Ralph Egües with the Nursing Consortium of South Florida.

The Nursing Consortium of Southern Florida works to identify and address what is causing the nursing shortage in the southern region of the state. The consortium also builds interest in nursing among students in middle school and high school.