There are lots of reasons why the nursing profession could be appealing to you. If you’re passionate about helping sick and injured people or want to have the opportunity to work in a setting where you can be a blessing to all those around you, then choosing to study nursing is a great way to make all that happen.
Over the years, the Nursing profession has proven to be a great career choice. According to a U.S. News & World Report, the Nursing profession ranks in the top 25 best jobs of 2020. The profession is expansive covering different job titles, work environments and specialties.
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In this post, we have compiled some of the best reasons you should consider studying nursing at a university or college.
- Guaranteed Job at the End of Your Degree
Yes, you heard that right. Nursing is one of the most highly employable degrees. Over 95% of nursing graduates secure a nursing job within the first three months of their graduation. Moreover, as nursing degrees include numerous hospital placements, most excellent students find themselves with a job offer or numerous job offers before they graduate.
This is especially true now that the U.K. government has promised to place over 50,000 nurses in the NHS. So if you’re bothered about securing a befitting job upon graduation after all your hard work studying in the university or college, then nursing is a career worth considering. Between 2018- 2028, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that there will be a 15 percent increase in the demand and employment of licensed practical nurses (LPNs).
- You help people for a living
What could be more fulfilling than being in a career path where you’re being paid to do what you love doing. This is the case, especially if you’re truly passionate about helping sick and injured people regain full health. The nursing profession is a people profession; you’ll be involved in helping patients in some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives.
You’ll be saddled with the responsibility of taking care of their medical needs, caring for them and making them feel safe and secured. This is the highest form of satisfaction and fulfillment that is not common in every other career path. Choosing to study nursing gives you the opportunity to be part of a profession with a central core of helping people for a living. The nursing profession is all about doing your utmost best to care for patients in whatsoever condition they are in. There are few jobs where you can go back home at the end of the day feeling fulfilled and satisfied knowing that you’ve touched people’s lives and made a real difference.
- Nurses have a high earning potential
No one wants to be in a profession without good pay. The good news is that the nursing profession is full of job positions with good pays. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that a registered nurse’s average annual salary is around $73,300 while that of an LPN is around $47,480. If you consider the fact that both job positions do not necessarily require a bachelor’s degree, then you’ll know that the pay is not bad in itself.
Above all, nurses are known to receive excellent benefits in the form of tuition reimbursement for further studies, tax savings plans, generous paid time off (PTO), pension plans, life insurance, schedule flexibility, and lots more.
- Wide and varied Employment Choices
Examples of the different nursing fields you can pursue include medical-surgical, mental health, pediatrics, maternal-infant, adult health, geriatrics, and family practice. In addition to further studies, you can secure jobs in the following
- Academia
- Health care administration
- Nursing education
- Patient care coordination
- Implementation of evidence-based practice
- Nursing management and leadership
- Nursing case management
- Community education and public health
Furthermore, technology is adding a new dimension to the nursing profession. The nursing profession is not only limited to working in a hospital setting. You can specialize in informatics, a field that deals with measuring, analysis and diagnosing data and converting it into easy-to-understand information that can be used for proper patient treatment and care. Nurses that specialize in data analysis will be in hot demand in 2021 and beyond.
- Nursing career choices are expanding
There is no limit to what you can specialize on with your nursing degree. You can be an administrator, entrepreneur, professor, policymaker, blogger, researchers and even a doctor of nursing practice at the zenith of your nursing profession. There are so many opportunities for nurses outside the hospital setting. Nursing is a labour intensive profession as nurses are becoming more mobile throughout healthcare, politics, business and other spheres of human endeavour. They gain more influence that positions them to be agents of change in the society.
- Freedom to Work Anywhere
Unlike some other professions where you have to work in a major city or the capital to advance in your career, you can work anywhere in the country in the nursing profession. Thus giving you the maximum freedom and flexibility over where you live and how you live your life.
You can also use your nursing degree or relevant certification to secure employment abroad. And regardless of where you choose to settle, there’s no limit to the nursing roles available for you.
Above all, you’ll also enjoy a level of flexibility and variety in your career. Most people often think that the only place nurses can work is in a hospital setting, but that’s not true as there are different places you can work in and different career paths you can choose to specialize in.
You can go into teaching, forensic nursing, management, prison nursing and lots more. Another available option is to further your studies and do you Master’s or PhD in the various fields of nursing. You can also choose to specialize in areas like palliative care, oncology or cardiac. The opportunities are unlimited if you’re willing to pay the price.
- You’ll be Highly Respected
It is interesting to note that not only is the nursing profession rewarding but also, nurses are highly respected in society. Their opinions and views are listened to as much as those of the surgeons and doctors they are working with.
Furthermore, nurses have the rare opportunity to collaborate with their health care stakeholders such as allied health partners, respiratory colleagues and care partners. They collectively work to improve the patient experience.
Nursing also has a vibrant professional body and community. It is positively stuffed with community boards, organizations and interactive blogs. Vibrant bodies like the American Nursing Association (ANA) consists of highly professional nurses at the peak of their careers. If you’re a nurse and belong to any professional body, you’ll have a foretaste of what it feels like to be in a highly respected profession.
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- Nursing has a great career outlook and job security
The demand for registered nurses is growing rapidly across the globe. There is no better time to get into the nursing field than now. According to statistics released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, over 44, 000 new nursing jobs will be open between 2020-2024- a much faster exponential growth rate compared to all other professions. In Connecticut alone, 1000 jobs a year are projected to become available for aspiring nurses.
A bright outlook means unwavering job security for professional nurses in the years to come. This is because even in the midst of slowly recovering economy or job recessions, there will always be high demand for quality healthcare. There will always be the need for professional nurses
- The nursing school teaches a wide range of interpersonal, technical and clinical skills that can be applied in all facets of healthcare
Registered nurses engage in different multi-dimensional jobs. Working directly with patients and medical team, researching treatment methods and [performing lab work, setting up a long-term patient plan and consulting with families. For this reason, nurses must possess multi-dimensional skills to perform their day-to-day activities effectively. Nursing programs are structured to help students develop interpersonal, clinical and technical skills applicable in real-world career.
- Communication skills: nurses must understand how to collaborate with other colleagues, medical staff, and doctors to provide the best healthcare service. They must learn how to communicate with patients and explain medication instructions clearly effectively. They must also master the ability to speak empathetically and compassionately with patients and their family members.
- Critical-thinking skills: nurses must learn how to act, think and solve problems under pressure. They must also learn how to assess their patients’ health conditions and take corrective measures when needed.
- Organizational skills: nurses work with different patients with diverse health needs and challenges. They must learn how to manage several patients and conditions at the same time, ensuring that the patients are catered for appropriately, getting the right medications and treatment at the right time.
- Technical skills: nurses work with advanced medical equipment as well as systems that manage patient’s details. Therefore, they must possess the technical skills needed to manage these technologies.
- Clinical skills: nurses are clinicians; they perform diagnostic procedures and tests, administer treatment and medications, observe patient’s conditions, and operate medical equipment regularly as part of their jobs. They must have a full grasp of everything that pertains to the clinical aspect of their careers.
All these skills are often learned through practical training during nursing school.
- You become a specialist
When you do your nursing degree, you can specialize in what is known as the field of nursing. There are basically four fields of nursing- learning disability nursing, mental health nursing, and children’s nursing and adult nursing- which allows you to be a specialist in anyone you choose.
There are some nursing degrees that allow you to combine two fields of nursing.
Nursing is a career path that gives you satisfaction and fulfilment in life. There are many more reasons why you should consider studying Nursing, but we believe the points shared in this post are sufficient enough to fuel your passion.
