Becoming a Nurse – What Does it Entail?

Nursing is a profession that’s being looked at with new eyes today – people are waking up the fact that nursing involves more than just patient care and long hours. There’s a demand for nurses in all areas of healthcare, from hospitals to schools to private homes. So if you’re considering becoming a nurse, now is a good time to join this industry because hiring is on the rise. However, before you take a final call on this decision, it’s best you know what the nursing profession entails:

• Nursing is a demanding job, one that requires you to spend long hours on your feet, keep erratic and long work hours, and put your patients before yourself. It’s not for everyone in that it could take a huge toll on you mentally and physically if you’re not cut out for it and ready to take the rough with the smooth.
• At the same time, it’s an immensely satisfying profession if you’re the kind who thrives on giving other people your time and effort and taking pride in their well-being.
• The educational qualifications required are not as demanding as going to medical school; however, your job status is not on par with that of doctors, even if you’re qualified academically and through experience as an advanced practice nurse.
• You have to start out at the bottom of the ladder and work your way to the top – any nursing job that’s higher up requires a few years of experience as an RN and additional education as qualifications.
• Most nurses who are ambitious choose to become advanced practice nurses by earning an MSN or a doctorate and becoming certified in the field of their choice; so you can choose to become a Nurse Practitioner, a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, a Nurse Midwife or a Clinical Nurse Specialist. Nurse practitioners can become specialists in one of many areas of medicine including gerontology, neonatal care, pediatrics, oncology, acute care, critical care, women’s health, psychiatry, adult health, emergency medicine, and occupational healthcare.
• There are opportunities to move to non-clinical positions once you have a few years of experience under your belt and are willing to go back to school to pick up a few extra credentials – you could choose to go into administration, education (teaching), legal nursing, organization and planning (case nurse manager), and research. Some nurses with vast experience in the medical field even enter the pharma industry as consultants and administrators.
• If you love to travel and thrive on new places and new people, you could become a travel nurse.
• From RNs to advanced practice nurses, all nursing professions include continuous education and meeting the necessary conditions to stay certified throughout their career. Nursing is not a job where you can rest on your laurels or stagnate in the same spot.
• If you’re going back to school while continuing to work at your profession, remember that balancing a degree and the demands of a nursing career could become overwhelming and cause stress if you don’t have a good support system of friends and family.
• So if you’re considering becoming a nurse, plan ahead, and go ahead with what works for you instead of adopting herd mentality and following the crowd.