So You Want to Be a Nurse?
As long as there is a need for providing medical help to people, there will obviously be careers available for various kinds of nurses. Nursing occupations range from hospice nurses tending to elderly patients in nursing homes to surgical assistants in the operating room.
Is Nursing for Me.?
It’s difficult to list an absolute checklist of criteria to help someone determine whether nursing should be in his or her future. There is such a wide spectrum of work environments for the various kinds of nursing careers that it’s not realistic to place too many restrictions on what attributes qualify a person to be a competent nurse. I personally have seen very different kinds of personalities, ethnic backgrounds, and excel at nursing. There are a few things that likely should be considered before choosing nursing as a career path. Generally speaking, nurses have
strong stomachs. Their work involves taking urine samples, giving shots, changing bandages, and other up-close-and-personal tasks. If blood, needles, or scabs make you queezy, and you don’t foresee yourself being able to overcome that shortcoming, you’re better off pursuing a different career.
Nurses, the most successful ones anyway, have a disposition towards being nurturing towards people. If you are generally ornery and dislike helping people in need, you’d probably hate nursing. On the other hand, if you grew up with a habit of getting juice for your sick mother, nursing might be right up your alley.
The most coveted nursing jobs require a significant amount of education. Many of the classes involve mastering portions of biology, chemistry, math and statistics, anatomy, physiology, writing and other disciplines. For most secondary schools,
getting in to the nursing program is not trivial and is often competitive.
Many nurses begin their careers working as EMT’s. Nurses who are still in school can get valuable experience dealing with EMT work. Oftentimes, people who take on an EMT job without considering a nursing career escalate their pursuits to include the formal education required to become a licensed nurse. Other professional nurses start going that direction even while in high school. Either way, if you are considering a career in nursing, it is worthwhile to take some time to evaluate the pros and cons of whatever nursing field you are considering, and make a careful decision about whether it’s for you. Here are some of the pertinent factors to consider.
SalaryYou always hear people say that you shouldn’t take
a job based on salary alone. However, most people don’t want to work for nothing. Especially when considering how much debt you may need to incur to become qualified for the particular nursing field, it makes sense to get a good sense of how much you’ll be making once you begin your career and as you progress through your career ladder. Struggling to pay student loan bills could easily make Ronald McDonald frown, so even if the duties associated with your anticipated career seems destined to give you heaps of bliss, make sure it pays at least enough to make you financially comfortable.
Some of the top paying nursing jobs include Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist – $135,000/yr, Nurse Researcher – $95,000/yr, Certified Nurse Midwife – $84,000, and Neonatal Nurse – $74,000. Surveys abound showing the latest salary trends of nursing careers. A quick Google search will give you more than enough information to make an informed decision.
Work HoursPeople generally don’t
restrict their medical needs to an 8am – 5pm schedule. Many nursing jobs require those on the schedule to take their rotations staying up all night. It would be worthwhile to consider whether that’s something you want to do before you get too far down the path of becoming a delivery room nurse only to find out that you hate being at the hospital all night or on a weekend. If you don’t mind those kinds of hours or even prefer them, you might be able to get a pay increase for working the night shift.
Education RequirementsSome people could make it as adequate nurses except that they aren’t very good students. Others love to spend years in school. If you can’t see yourself spending more than a couple years becoming a nurse, you’d probably need to consider a vocational school and look at job possibilities for licensed practical nursing (LPN) or license vocational nursing (LVN). If you think you want to put in a full four years and get a BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing), you can
become an RN. Many RN’s choose to go on to get masters degrees in nursing. The general rule is that the more education you have, the more opportunities open up to you. Also, more education typically means higher pay.
Hopefully these guidelines help you in deciding whether a nursing career is in the cards for your future. There is always going to be a large demand for nurses. Maybe you can fill some of that demand and gain some fulfillment in the process.
