Have you heard? The American Cancer Society’s new screening guidelines for colorectal cancer recommend starting screening at age 45 instead of 50. That’s great news for Americans worried about the increased risk of colorectal cancer in young adults. But maybe not for endoscopy nurses, who are already in short supply.
The new recommendations could increase the number of colonoscopies performed in the U.S. by 22 million. Even if an entire third of this group ignores the recommendation or chooses another screening method, that’s still a lot of colonoscopies (14.7 million)!
It’s no secret that the supply of nurses in the U.S. does not meet the demand. But why?
Endoscopy nurses are specialists. The Journal of Nursing notes that nurse care is vital before and during colonoscopy for the procedure to be performed effectively. Duties of endoscopy nurses are myriad, ranging from assessing the patient pre-procedure to applying abdominal pressure during the colonoscopy.
But according to the Nursing Times, “a shortage of specialist nurses is compounding a capacity crisis in endoscopy.” Consider Scotland. At the end of March 2018, 64% of Health Boards in the country fell below the national standard, with 3,986 patients waiting longer than six weeks for a colonoscopy.
The world needs more endoscopy nurses. Are you thinking about a new career? Do you know someone who is? Consider nurse endoscopy. Not only will you be helping detect, treat, and prevent colorectal cancer, you could also find yourself a stable job. Endoscopy nurse job growth rate is projected to be 26% from 2018 to 2022. And the standard rate of pay could rise significantly during that same time period.
It could be the perfect time for you, and for 22 million new patients.