Animal source protein, however, is complete protein since it provides all nine of essential amino acids needed for human health. Vegetable
source protein always lacks one or more of these vital amino acids. This is usually not a problem for people who eat a vegetarian diet, as long as they eat a wide variety of good quality protein foods.

But there’s another big difference between animal and vegetable source protein that must be taken into consideration when looking for the best protein source for good health. And that’s the extra food components that come along with the protein.

Take a four-ounce porterhouse steak, for example. It provides a lot of complete protein. 25 grams to be exact. But it also provides about 30
grams of fat of which more than 10 grams are unhealthy saturated fat. The same size serving of broiled salmon delivers about the same amount of complete protein – 23 grams, but only 12 grams of fat, less than 3 of them saturated. A cup of lentils, on the other hand, has about 18 grams of incomplete protein, but under a gram of fat.

So paying close attention to the dietary source of protein makes good sense if you want to get and stay healthy. Animal source protein may be complete but it also contains a lot of extra unwanted fat. Studies show, for example, that people who eat more than 18 ounces of red meat each week have a much higher risk of colon cancer. The best sources of animal protein are lean fish, and poultry.

If you enjoy red meat eat it only on an occasional basis and always choose moderate size portions of the leanest cuts. And stay away from processed meats – bacon deli meats and hot dogs – that are linked to cancer risk. When eating dairy products, choose healthier low fat milk, yogurt and cheese.

Vegetable source protein like beans, nuts and whole grains may be incomplete but they also provide vitamins, minerals and healthy fiber. When limiting animal source protein in your diet, it’s vital that you eat a wide variety of protein rich foods to be sure you’re getting all of the amino acids you need. Combining rice and beans and peanut butter on whole grain bread are excellent vegetarian choices that provide a complete amino acid profile.

Firstly, the population in the developed world is aging which means that there is a higher demand for medical care. An unfortunate side effect of an aging population is that there are more people who suffer from age related illnesses.

A second, and related, contributing factor is that many qualified, experienced nurses are reaching retirement age and leaving the nursing profession. A large number of nurses in the developed world are quickly approaching retirement age, which means that these countries are losing a valuable human resource on top of the number of nurses required to staff the medical facilities.

Thirdly, there are not enough new nurses graduating every year to replace the number of nurses leaving the profession. For some reason many developed countries are struggling to attract the numbers of student nurses they need to replace the nursing staff that are leaving, or they simply do not have the number of places in nursing education programs to train the necessary number of replacement nurses.

Many hospitals and other health care facilities struggle to find suitably qualified and experience nurses to staff their wards. This is creating increased competition between medical employers for the small pool of nurses available. This is creating an employment environment for nurses where they are sought after and head-hunted.

Because of this nursing shortage many countries are experiencing, and which is predicted to worsen to crisis proportion in the next decade, governments in developing countries such as Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland and the USA are making it easier and less complicated for internationally educated nurses to enter these countries and work legally, both short term and permanently. Without these countries taking immediate measures to counteract the shortage of nurses in their own country the quality of healthcare being provided will fall considerably.

In order to take advantage of these nursing employment opportunities you may need to move away from the area or country where you currently live as the nursing shortage is global and this is creating a strong demand for qualified nurses worldwide. Most developing countries now have several visa options that are suitable for nurses who want to nurse overseas. The USA, for example, have 4 visa options for nurses to choose from depending on how long you wish to stay in the US.

More and more healthcare facilities are looking to nurses abroad to solve their recruitment crisis and this situation is only going to continue over the next decade or so. The time for nurses to move their nursing career abroad is right now, while there are so many recruiters who are desperate for nurses to fill their vacancies.