Nursing in 2021: Trends, Challenges, and Future Roles
This paper examines the anticipated transformations in nursing and healthcare delivery driven by the aging Baby Boom generation and advances in medical science. It discusses how the growing elderly population will increase demand for healthcare services, expand the scope of nursing practice, and necessitate greater reliance on nurse practitioners and other allied health providers. The paper also explores how breakthroughs such as the Human Genome Project, stem cell therapies, and genetic medicine will shift the focus from curative to preventative care. Finally, it identifies the core competencies — including patient-centered care, evidence-based practice, and leadership — that nurses must develop to meet these emerging challenges.
- The Aging Population and Healthcare Demand: Baby Boom aging drives rising healthcare service needs
- Expanding Scope of Nursing Practice: Physician shortages expand nurse practitioner roles
- Genomic Advances and the Shift to Preventative Care: Genomics and stem cells transform disease treatment approaches
- Preparing for the Future: Core Nursing Competencies: Key competencies nurses must develop for future care
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper grounds its projections in concrete demographic data — citing expected U.S. population figures and nurse practitioner growth statistics — which gives its forward-looking claims credibility.
- It moves logically from macro-level trends (population aging, genomic science) to their practical implications for nursing roles and individual professional development.
- The first-person conclusion connects the broader analysis to personal career planning, demonstrating reflective thinking alongside the expository argument.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates trend-to-implication reasoning: it identifies an established trend (the aging Baby Boom cohort), projects its healthcare consequences, then derives concrete workforce and competency requirements. This technique — common in health policy and professional development writing — keeps argument chains visible and traceable rather than relying on assertion alone.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with demographic context and disease burden in the elderly, then argues for an expanded nursing scope of practice supported by statistics on nurse practitioner growth. A third section addresses genomic and stem-cell advances and their effect on care philosophy. The paper closes with a self-reflective section on the competencies the author plans to develop, tying macro healthcare trends to individual professional preparation. Total structure: four thematic sections with an integrated reference list.
The Aging Population and Healthcare Demand
Over the next decade, and for years to come afterwards, the expected growth in the older adult population will have a significant impact on the healthcare system. The Baby Boom generation — individuals born between 1946 and 1964 — began turning 65 in 2011. By 2020, the number of Americans age 65 and older was expected to rise to 54 million. Furthermore, as a result of better nutrition, safety, and healthcare, the number of individuals who reach the age of 85 or older will grow even more dramatically (The Impact of Aging Population on the Health Workforce in the United States, 2006).
This will precipitate a greater demand for healthcare in general and will also affect the nature of the skills and services the healthcare workforce must be equipped to provide, as well as the settings in which this care is delivered. As a person ages, their immune system weakens, organs begin to deteriorate, and the body becomes susceptible to a variety of diseases. Common illnesses among the elderly include Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, arthritis, Parkinson's disease, heart attack, pneumonia, cancer, heart disease, and stroke.
Expanding Scope of Nursing Practice
To meet the needs and demands of this expected increase in healthcare services, an expansion of the scope of practice for the nursing profession is inevitable. Shortages of physicians will mean greater reliance on others to deliver care — such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants for primary care, social workers and psychologists for mental health care, and optometrists for vision care. Physicians will need to change their attitudes toward these providers by involving them and embracing their value. Simultaneously, educational requirements can be expected to increase as well. Currently, there are more than 167,000 nurse practitioners in the United States, an increase from 141,209 in 2004 and 158,348 in 2008 (ACNP, 2010).
References
ACNP. (2010). Numbers of nurse practitioners in U.S. American College of Nurse Practitioners. Retrieved February 1, 2012, from
The impact of aging population on the health workforce in the United States: Summary of key findings. (2006, March). Center for Health Workforce Studies, School of Public Health. Retrieved January 31, 2012, from
Cronenwett, L. R. (Ed.). (2011). The future of nursing education. In The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. Institute of Medicine. Retrieved February 1, 2012, from
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