The current shortage of nurses hasn't been this large since 50 years ago. By 2020, the world will be short of 340000 registered nurses, but this is good news for nurses in the system as well as future nurses. You will expect to see higher salaries, bonuses, and even tuition repayment.
Baby boomers are now retiring in huge numbers which will add to the nursing shortage as well. But the problem isn't always that there aren't enough people wanting become nurses. Schools can't find enough educators so they have been rejecting students as well. In 2005, 125,000 students were turned away from Nursing school. This is an interesting challenge, but it is something that should be definitely be taken advantage of you're considering a nursing field.