There is one job which, again, has shown itself to be recession-proof. Nursing.

Here is one of the silver linings in this severe recession. Nurses are coming back to practice to help cover spouse’s benefit cuts, lost wages or other income needs.

Most surprising? In today’s Health Affairs, a leading journal, the study reports, half of the increase in returning nurses 50 or above.

Wall Street Journal

“Nearly a quarter-million nurses entered the work force in 2007-08, an 18% surge that was the largest two-year increase in at least three decades, according to a study being released Friday in the journal Health Affairs.

“Many nurses who had left the field have re-entered the work force to compensate for a spouse’s lost income or health benefits, the study said. About half the increase over the period came from nurses over age 50. And in 2008, there were a third more working nurses ages 21-34 with children under 6 than in the previous year.

“This surge of employment is basically knocking out the shortage,” said Peter Buerhaus, the study’s lead author and a professor at Vanderbilt University’s school of nursing in Nashville, Tenn.

“The gain of 243,000 hospital nurses in the period is particularly remarkable at a time when the U.S. economy has shed more than six million jobs, helping solidify the profession’s “recession-proof” image.”

Source: Wall Street Journal, June 12, 2009