Experts say that thanks to five developments facing the nursing industry, job prospects are likely to look up in coming years. And if you’ve either just entered nursing school or are planning to go, you may be in a good position to benefit.

• The graying of the country’s population

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the ranks of the elderly will grow faster than any other group in the population from through 2018. And the longer Baby Boomers stick around, the more treatment they’ll need for age-related issues, whether it’s something as major as a fall or minor, like that old lumbago acting up again. With age often comes the need for increased recovery time, and that means a need for a variety of nurses—including home health care providers and long-term care facility workers.

• Better living through technology

As advances in technology improve survival rates for illnesses and injuries that were once fatal, the BLS predicts there will be an increased need for additional treatment and therapy for survivors. The advances will also result in earlier diagnoses, leading to the likelihood of a demand for more treatment.

• Decrease in foreign workers

More stringent immigration laws are having a major impact on the number of foreign workers available to fill existing openings. In fact, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing has already seen a drop in the number of non-citizens taking the exams necessary to get their nursing license, according to NCSBN spokesperson Dawn Kappel. With fewer foreign workers available, employers will have to focus on home grown talent.

• Attrition

The economic downturn prompted many nurses to postpone retirement and part timers to go full time, but you can put off the inevitable for only so long. As many veterans point out, nursing may be rewarding, but it’s also extremely strenuous work. More younger workers have entered the field, but the BLS reports that the median age of nurses has been increasing and that there likely won’t be enough new recruits to replace their senior counterparts when the economy improves and older workers feel more confident about retirement.

That’s when the field could really open up, according to Chuck Cumiskey, a nurse practice advisor for the Washington Nursing Commission.

As he puts it, “You’re going to have one of the worst nursing shortages ever because of so many people retiring.”

How big will the shortage be? In Washington State alone, a Washington Center for Nursing reports projecting supply and demand for registered nurses predicted that more than 89,000 RNs would be needed by 2031, but that the likely supply would range from 68,000 to 77,000.

And then there’s the wild card, which could have a bigger impact than all of the others put together:

• The Affordable Care Act

No matter where you stand on the issue of what’s known as Obama Care, the provisions that are scheduled to go into effect in 2014 are expected to make health care more accessible for millions of Americans. The resulting demand for service should lead to increased demand for service providers, including nurses.

There’s just one catch.

Although the Act was signed into law in 2010, there’s still a chance it could be overturned either by the Supreme Court or opponents in the U.S. Congress. The Supreme Court is slated to hear arguments on the constitutionality of the law as a result of challenges from attorneys general in a number of states. Even if the law passes constitutional muster, it’s still dependent on the kindness of voters. If President Barack Obama is not re-elected, or if Republicans take the majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, there’s a chance the law could be repealed.

Of course, there are no guarantees in life. If it were a perfect world, you might not be considering going back to school for a career in nursing. If you start now, however, you could find yourself in the right place at the right time to benefit from all of these developments all coming into play at the same time when you’re ready to graduate.