Wondering if registered nursing is the career for you?
Read on for more information, or request more information from Top Nurse Info today!
Could You Be a Nurse?
Nurses have all types of personalities, but the thing they have in common is a desire to help other people. Read on for a few common characteristics successful nurses possess and see if you can picture yourself in this role!
- Strong critical-thinker
- Compassionate
- Enthusiastic
- Detail Oriented
- Organized
- Patient
What Do Nurses Do?
There’s no “typical” day in the life of a nurse since the job depends a lot on the type of patients you serve. That said, there is a range of duties that most registered nurses will have to do at some point. If you like staying busy and managing important, detailed tasks, then you would likely enjoy taking on the following duties as a registered nurse!
- Conduct an initial assessment of the patient’s overall health and current condition, including diagnostic tests
- Coordinate patient care
- Educate patients and families about their current condition and provide advice and emotional support
- Maintain records of patients’ medical histories, symptoms, and diagnostic results
- Administer various medicines and treatments
- Do Works as part of a large team with physicians and other health-care specialists
- Oversee licensed practical nurses and home care aides
- Run general health screenings or immunization clinics, blood drives, or other outreach programs
What Does The Job Market Look Like?
Nursing is a growing field that offers a wide range of career possibilities! According to the National Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), “Employment is expected to grow 26 percent from 2010 to 2020, faster than the average for all occupations.” The report goes on to state that RNs held about 2.7 million jobs in 2010, with the average breakdown as follows:
- about 48% worked in general medical and surgical private hospitals
- 8% worked in in physician offices
- 6% worked in local general medical and surgical hospitals
- 5% worked in home health care services
- 5% worked in long-term nursing care facilities
The remainder worked mainly in government agencies, administrative and support services, and educational services.
What about Pay?
Becoming a registered nurse is a great way to secure a steady income for you and your family. The average earning level will vary from state to state and will increase with your years of experience, but the average median national income, as reported to the BLS, is $64,690, with the top 10 percent of RNs earning over to $95,000.
How Can I Become a Registered Nurse?
For more information on how you can begin your career in nursing, please call 210-306-4346 or fill out the form to contact one of our Career Point College representatives today! Qualified students may be eligible for financial aid, and we’re committed to helping you achieve your educational and professional dreams while working around the demands of family and work. Contact us today, and you can be one step closer to having a rewarding career in the nursing industry!
You may also like: How to Become a Registered Nurse: Your Step-by-Step Guide
Job Opportunities
- Hospitals
- Insurance companies
- Pharmaceutical manufacturers
- Managed care organizations
- Health planning and development
- Marketing
- Consulting
- Policy development
- Quality assurance
The Popularity of Nursing Degrees
Nursing shortages in the United States during the last few years have resulted in new high school graduates increasingly turning to programs that will give them a nursing degree. Even doctors in third world Asian countries like the Philippines are enrolling in fast-track nursing degrees in droves leaving the profession they have practiced for many years because of the multitude of career options a nursing degree promises.
Who can blame them?
Well-paying jobs for those who have obtained a nursing degree are available in every city in the United States of America. This nursing degree is also very in demand in the United Kingdom, Australia, and in other first world countries.
Is it Worth to Take Nursing as a Career
Nursing is a good career choice and not only because of the financial compensation. As a nurse, one would have the opportunity to help save and improve lives. He would get the chance to teach people how to achieve better health and to advocate for patients to make sure they are receiving the best health care.
If you are considering taking up a nursing degree, it is important to have a good understanding of the profession. Nursing is a discipline focused on service and on assisting individuals in order to attain and maintain optimal health and functioning.
In 1859, Florence Nightingale said, “the goal of nursing is to put the patient in the best condition for nature to act upon him, primarily by altering the environment.” The field has evolved immensely since. From caretakers, today, bearers of nursing degree do things done by physicians many years ago. Nurses take blood pressure readings, do physical examinations, give injections, handle medical equipment, and change wound dressings.
The American Nurses Association now defines nursing as “the diagnosis and treatment of human responses to actual or potential health problems.” A nursing degree gives an individual to practice nursing as a profession.
Individuals who have obtained a nursing degree have many career options beyond bedside care in a hospital setting. Nursing is the most various of all healthcare careers. Nurses exercise in a wide range of environments from hospitals to the field of research. They can go into occupational health, rehabilitation, home care, hospice care, and they can even go beyond their nursing degree and aspire to be nurse practitioners or nurse anesthetists. Bearers of a nursing degree can also go into ambulatory care, burn care, emergency, pediatrics, ICU, maternal care, oncology, operating room, renal, pediatrics, and even geriatrics.
Compared to Other Profession
Today, a nursing degree entitles one to go into professional pathways such as the law, sales and marketing, informatics, community care, journalism, business, teaching, and private ventures. A nursing degree will entitle one to a job that gives great compensation, ranging from $30k upwards to $45k a year, with additional pay for evening, night, and weekend shifts.
Additional benefits include health insurance, holiday pay, and college tuition reimbursement in some programs, pension plans, and vacation pay. Nurses with advanced training and degrees such as nurse anesthetists make considerably higher salaries.
To obtain a nursing degree there are a few options each involving a different type of nursing program. Three types of programs offer a nursing degree after graduation. Colleges and universities offer a bachelor’s program in nursing, which is a four-year program. The nursing degree from this program is required before one can take a master’s in the field. An associate degree in nursing program is a two-year program that one can take in community colleges. A hospital diploma is a two-year nursing program based in a hospital setting.
