The shortage of nursing staffs in hospitals in the US is expected to be over 250,000 nurses within the next year or two. This has led to increased recruitment from abroad, a tendency that has incurred President Obama’s comments. Another thing that has lead to the shortage of nurses is the lack of teaching staff, which has resulted in more than 100,000 applicants being turned away this year from nursing schools. A solution to this seems to lie in online programs that can allow you to get a healthcare and nursing degree online.

This allows the candidates to fit the training programs to their schedules and continue to work at a job while acquiring the online education required for the degree. It also enables existing teaching staff to extend their reach without burdening the infrastructure that they have.

There are a number of accredited online colleges which will give you a quality education. They are recognized by the medical fraternity because of the accreditation. What you need to decide before you enroll in such a course is whether you have the caring qualities and the empathy needed to be a nurse. This is a quality that can always come to the fore during the career of nursing and you need to have it adequately if you are to succeed as a nurse.

If money is an issue, remember that online education allows you to fit in your own schedule and you can always hold down another job while learning for the degree. Most of these schools also offer payment plans to fit your budget, as well as scholarships for those that are economically distressed. An online education can be availed off irrespective of the place where you stay.

A nursing program does require a clinical practice as part of the course and this is where schools that have the accreditation score over the others. These schools would have tie ups with hospitals and clinics all over the States, which will allow you to get the clinical time necessary for your online degree. You would, however, need to adjust this with your job if you are working. The academics are covered online, while the actual clinical studies have to be done in the designated hospitals or clinics.

A typical nursing degree online course would have lectures and assignments for the students posted online, which the students would have to download and go over. The assignments have to be completed and again posted online. Most online schools will have discussion or bulletin boards where students can communicate with the instructor and even with each other, so that any queries or doubts are cleared.

Most schools will also conduct examinations online where as some of them would designate a time and place where students can write for their exams. There are still others who prefer to test a student’s knowledge through their written assignments, which alternatively can be quite demanding.

With all this freedom and latitude in the schedules, online nursing degrees have become quite popular. However courses offered through colleges and universities are tied to the same schedules as their regular class rooms and may not be so flexible. Check up on these aspects before you sign up for that online nursing degree course. It is your convenience which must be taken care of, so that you are able to give the online education the attention it deserves.

The nursing field is growing and the scope for a qualified nurse always exists. Salaries of $30,000 to $60,000 are quite common and if you do have the inclination towards nursing and see that as your future, it is a career that can be boosted by your online degree in nursing.