The health care industry is quickly growing across the country, thanks to the new health care reform that was recently passed. While the job market may be recovering slowly, it looks like jobs, such as nursing may be the ticket to finding new employment.

According to the Portland Press Herald, there will be plenty of new jobs for registered nurses in the near future. A new report by the Maine Department of Labor shows that the state will need at least 17,000 nurses by 2016, which is 3,000 more than were employed in 2008.

The nursing profession currently makes up 24% of the state's health care work force, according to the news source.

Health care is one of Maine's largest industry, that has been continuously hiring throughout the recession.

"Even in the economic downturn, it kept adding employment," John Dorrer, director of the department's center for workforce research and information, told the news source. "We are in the midst of a recession still, and for registered nurses, while demand has dropped, it is still very much at the top of the list [for hires].

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of registered nurses throughout the country is expected to grow by 22% through 2018.