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What are the biggest trends in health professions? George Mason School of Nursing faculty share their insights about emerging health care fields, in-demand credentials, incentivized loan repayment options and other trends.
Rebecca Sutter, DNP, APRN, BC-FNP
Co-director, Mason and Partners (MAP) Clinics, Nursing Associate Professor, Nursing
College of Health and Human Services
George Mason University
1. In your opinion, what are the biggest trends we'll see in the job market given the pandemic?
Reopening post COVID will mean creating a “new normal” that will build upon the knowledge and best practices learned during the pandemic. This will include building up the public health system. New jobs in public and community settings will be needed to achieve better population health and a system that is more resilient, coordinated, equitable, and sustainable.
We will see an increased focus on addressing longstanding health and social inequities which have existed for years and have been laid bare as the pandemic disproportionately affects racial and ethnic minority groups.
2. What skills stand out on resumes?
Experience with the public health response in communities, telehealth experience, care coordination and care for the underserved. It should also be noted there has been an enormous increase in mental health and substance/opioid use during the pandemic. Experience, including clinical rotations, working with these populations will stand out on resumes.
Melanie Yousefi, DNP, PMHNP-BC
Assistant Professor PMHNP Program Coordinator
College of Health and Human Services
George Mason University
1. In your opinion, what are the biggest trends we'll see in the job market given the pandemic?
The biggest trends in the job market, given the pandemic, will be the demand for mental health providers. Rising trends of anxiety, depression, and suicidality in young adults will create an urgent need for mental health providers, which is already seen as a shortage in many areas nationwide. Further, qualified mental health clinicians will be needed to address the burdening increase of individuals with serious mental illness and/or substance abuse whose mental health care has been interrupted since the pandemic.
2. What skills stand out on resumes?
Graduates with telehealth experience and training will stand out to employers and mental health organization units who’ve pivoted to delivering health services on a digital platform.
3. Are there any particularly good places in the United States for graduates to find work opportunities in this field after they graduate?
Graduates will find increasing opportunities and incentivized loan re-payment options in federally qualified community mental health centers, particularly in regions in high-need areas. This often includes public entities of American Indian/Alaskan Native Health regions, or other high-need populations regions considered medically underserved.
Co-director, Mason and Partners (MAP) Clinics, Nursing Associate Professor, Nursing
College of Health and Human Services
George Mason University
1. In your opinion, what are the biggest trends we'll see in the job market given the pandemic?
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the healthcare industry. The increase in demand for healthcare workers and a decrease in supply, especially for nurses, will increasingly draw more people to retrain and enter the healthcare field.
In addition to frontline healthcare workers, such as nurses, we will likely see an increase in health information and technology jobs especially given that the Covid-19 pandemic has pushed health services online and patients and healthcare providers have had to adapt quickly. Jobs such as health information technicians and analyst as well as clinical informaticist will emerge as essential in the future healthcare landscape.
2. What skills stand out on resumes?
Resumes that include micro-credentials and badges that highlight in-demand and highly-targeted skills and competencies are important. An example of an essential micro-credential that has emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic is Telehealth credentialing.
3. Are there any particularly good places in the United States for graduates to find work opportunities in this field after they graduate?
Frontline healthcare workers will have no difficulty securing jobs post pandemic, however the job market in other sectors will struggle and we will likely see many people returning to school to retrain and enter the healthcare workforce, similar to what we saw in 2008 with the economic downturn.