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Career Development Denise Alexander
Have you ever considered a healthcare career? Have you asked yourself if you would be a suitable fit for a nursing career? Do you like making a difference in other people’s lives?
If you have considered any of these questions, nursing might be an ideal career for you! While having an interest in nursing is a great start, there are a lot of other important points to consider before starting your nursing education. Here are some reasons to consider choosing nursing as a career.
The United States needs nurses. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), employment of registered nurses (RN) from 2022-2032 is expected to increase 6%. According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), the projected shortage of RNs is expected to intensify as baby boomers age and there is an increased need to meet the rising demand for care.
The health care needs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic showed how important nurses are to front-line and ongoing care.
If you love learning, nursing provides you with the ability to keep going back to school after earning your undergraduate degree. There are multiple pathways available for nurses looking to pursue an advanced nursing degree. If you want to advance your career with your Master of Science in Nursing (MSN), you could earn a degree such as:
As you start your nursing career, you’ll get a sense of which specialty might interest you the most.
Your career should be something that you are passionate about! Being a nurse for over 6 years, I can say that it is a humbling and rewarding career. You see people from all walks of life in nursing, often at the most vulnerable time of their lives. When you see patients recover from their illness, walk again after a stroke, wake up from a coma, get weaned from a ventilator, or return to their state of normalcy, that feels like your best “return of investment” in nursing.
While not all nurses travel, that doesn’t mean that you are limited to work in a hospital or nursing home. If you love to travel then a job as a travel nurse might just be a perfect fit. Nurses can travel all across America and work in a variety of different work environments. As an RN, there are many job openings for travel nurses.
If you’re not a morning person or you don’t enjoy a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. office job routine, then don’t worry! In nursing, you can choose a schedule that fits your lifestyle and preferences. Nurses work round-the-clock in hospitals, rehabs, assisted living facilities mental health facilities and nursing homes. As a nurse, you can work night shifts if you’re a night owl. You can work evening shifts if you’re neither a morning person nor a night owl. You can work 8-hr, 10-hr or 12-hr shifts. You can even work every weekend if you want to. You can work whatever shifts you want. The choice is yours.
This profession is all about helping people, such as when they are sick, injured, depressed, traumatized, dying, pregnant, laboring or giving birth. As a nurse, you can help a lot of people. You will be there for your patients at times of their vulnerability and you will make them feel heard, cared for, healed and (most importantly) safe. You can make a positive impact in your community by taking care of your patients every day.
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics 2023 / Occupational Outlook Handbook 2022. BLS estimates do not represent entry-level wages and/or salaries. Multiple factors, including prior experience, age, geography market in which you want to work and degree field, will affect career outcomes and earnings. Herzing neither represents that its graduates will earn the average salaries calculated by BLS for a particular job nor guarantees that graduation from its program will result in a job, promotion, salary increase or other career growth.
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