What Are The Best Reasons To Get Into A Nursing Career? – Nursing is not the kind of career to go into lightly. It is challenging, exhausting, mentally and emotionally draining, and you have to learn a lot of knowledge to do well. It’s the kind of career that only a few people can be successful at.
This is why it’s crucial to do as much research as possible if you are thinking of entering the nursing field. It is certainly one of the most rewarding careers you could ask for, and it’s an exciting one, but there are negatives, and understanding these is vital. If you know about them, you can make a more informed choice.
Having said that, nursing can make the ideal profession for many people who are willing to work hard and who can get past the few negatives that it entails. With that in mind, here are some of the best reasons to get into a nursing career. Read through them, and you might have a better understanding of why nursing makes such a good career choice for so many.
There Is A Nursing Shortage
It might sound strange to start this list with such a negative thing, but the fact is that the worldwide nursing shortage is only getting worse. Despite the massive drive to recruit more nurses, there is still a big skills gap, which means patient care can be a problem. People just aren’t able to access the healthcare they need, and the nurses currently working are getting more and more burned out from the additional work they have to do. Ironically, this can mean they have to leave the profession, meaning the shortage gets even worse.
How is this a good thing? In itself, it’s clearly not a good thing at all, but if you were interested in becoming a nurse, it could work in your favor. There are many nursing courses you can take, both in the traditional way and online, giving you plenty of choice about where and when you study. There are also many jobs available, meaning that once you graduate, you can choose the healthcare facility (a hospital, a clinic, a school, cruise ship, or prison) that suits you best. You’ll also have more say about the hours you work and your career in general.
Although it would be better for the world if there were enough nurses, in terms of getting started, now is the ideal time. You’ll find a place to study and a place to work, and you can build up your career as you go.
Nurses Make A Difference
Some jobs make no difference to the world at all. You’ll go to work, do what you’re paid for, and come home again without much of a feeling of accomplishment or that you’ve done something important. This is not entirely negative. Sometimes, these kinds of jobs are exactly what people need – they want to collect a paycheck, and they do what needs to be done to get it so they can enjoy their lives. However, for others, they want to make a difference in the world. They want to be vital.
Nursing will give you that opportunity. Nurses do so much more than give medication and dress wounds (although that is certainly part of their remit); they help patients in a variety of different ways. As a nurse, you will see people in their worst states. They will be scared and vulnerable. They might even be aggressive (often because they are scared). You’ll see them in ways they probably would never want or allow anyone else to see them, even their closest family members. As well as this, you will need to be empathetic and compassionate; you’ll have to give them advice and counseling and listen to what they need to say. This listening could even make a difference in their treatment, so it is crucial. However, you can also give them good news and celebrate that good news. You’ll become someone the patient can trust, and you’ll make their day – and their health – better.
As you can see, nurses make a difference. They can turn the worst experience of someone’s life into one that has a positive side to it. Since being more positive has been shown in numerous studies to impact recovery times, this is much more important than you might initially think. It’s an excellent reason to consider becoming a nurse.
Career Progression
If you haven’t looked into nursing before, you might have formed the wrong opinion about it, particularly in terms of the career you could expect to have. Many people will probably think that there is only one type or level of nursing. Or they might know there are different nurses who work in various departments (oncology, neonatal, ICU, the ER, and so on), but they don’t realize there are different ways to progress in a nursing career.
This is a very important point. The fact is that if you are an ambitious person, nursing might be the best option for you. You’ll start as an RN, but with hard work and plenty of experience, you can become a nurse leader, running an entire hospital (or at least the overall nursing department of that hospital). Along the way, there are many other options, so no matter how much work you want to put in or what level of accreditation you want to attain, there will be the option for you to do it. This can often be surprising to those who had no idea there was so much potential as a nurse. However, when you start to look more closely, you’ll see dozens of different paths to take, all of which allow you to help patients and do what you want to do.
It starts with your education, of course. To become a nurse initially, you’ll need to attend a nursing college or study somewhere that offers nursing qualifications and degrees. This is non-negotiable; to become a nurse, you must have the relevant qualifications. After this, you can choose what to do. You might decide to move forward with your career, or you might feel that remaining as an RN is the perfect thing for you to do.
If you want to do something else within the nursing field, experience is the first thing. You can’t just start as an RN and then a few weeks or even months later move on to the next stage of your career. To be the best nurse you can be, you must gain plenty of knowledge and experience before considering your next step. However, once you have that experience and are confident that the time is right to move forward, you’ll have all the choices you could want. For example, you might decide to apply for a Rockhurst University online MSN-AGACNP program. This is a good choice because it will enable you to get your adult-gerontology acute care nurse practitioner qualification, and you can do so online, meaning it can be done in your own home. This particular course is a full-time one, and you must meet strict entrance criteria (including having a degree already). There are lots of courses to choose from, so finding one that suits your requirements should not be difficult.
Scheduling
Nursing is a much more flexible career than many people would probably think, and this means there are many options for you, no matter what hours you can work or other commitments you might have. Suppose you want a more regular work pattern, perhaps weekdays only or shorter days. In that case, you might choose to work in outpatient care, for example, or somewhere other than a hospital such as a private clinic or a school – nurses are needed in a variety of different places. Hospitals don’t need to be the only place you think of or apply to work in.
If you like working longer shifts with more days off, a hospital job would be the better choice. This won’t be a good option for some people (perhaps those who are uncomfortable with not having a rigid routine or those with childcare to consider – or even those who are studying, as we mentioned above). Still, for others, it makes nursing so much more interesting and exciting than many other, more regular careers.
Think carefully about what you like best when it comes to your routine and working hours. Don’t assume you can’t be a nurse because you wouldn’t be able to work nights or feel anxious having a different routine each week; options will be open to you. As mentioned at the start, there is a nursing shortage, which means that, to some extent, the nurses themselves will have a say in how they work. This won’t always be possible; sometimes, you’ll have to work the shifts your job entails because you chose a specific hospital or department. These are the compromises you might have to make, but overall, when you are a nurse, your scheduling does not have to be as difficult as you might initially think. Would this make a difference to you? Would it put aside your concerns over whether or not nursing is for you? If so, it’s time to investigate further and see how you could take the next step.
You Can Know Your Patients
Nurses are front and center when it comes to healthcare. As we’ve said above, it is the nurse with whom patients will have the most contact during their time in the hospital, in a clinic, or elsewhere when they need medical assistance. The nurse will treat wounds, give medication, and make reports. It is the nurse who will, above all, offer comfort. These are things that doctors will do to some extent, but in general, it is the nurse’s job to do all of this and so much more.
Because you get to spend time with your patients in this way, you can get to know them better. Not only will this be good for the patient, as they will get to know you too and be able to trust you when it comes to telling you how they are feeling and how their recovery is going, but it will be a positive thing in your life. The more you can get to know people, the more you can help them. Since being a nurse is all about helping people in the most crucial ways, this understanding and knowledge can certainly go a long way. The traits of compassion, empathy, and good communication – all of which are vital for nurses to have – will be put to good use when you are talking to your patients. You’ll know what questions to ask and how to engage with them to get the answers you want. This will help you and your colleagues treat them better, and their recovery will, ideally, be quicker and smoother.
Job Satisfaction
Imagine going to work each day and disliking what you have to do. Imagine waking in the morning and actively dreading the day ahead. You would be watching the clock the entire time and probably only put in the bare minimum of effort – why would you work hard at a job you don’t like when you just want it to be over and done with? Then, when the working day is done, what would happen? You would spend your free time worrying about the next day. This is not a good way to live. Not only will you not excel in your career, but the other elements of your life, such as relationships and hobbies, will also be affected. You might even develop depression or stress.
So it’s clear that having a job you find enjoyable and satisfying is important. We spend so many of our waking hours at work that anything less is a waste of time. This is why nursing could be the right choice for you. When it comes to job satisfaction, nursing always ranks highly in polls. This makes sense; with so much opportunity to help people, such a spirit of teamwork, and so many advancement opportunities, nursing has it all.
