Nursing Career Search

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When you graduate from nursing school and pass the state licensure exam, you can start applying for work. While some will work in a hospital, others may find employment in labs, schools, private companies and non-profit organizations. This is when your nursing career choices are available to you.

The nice thing about being a nurse is that wherever you work, everyday is different than the day before. Why? Because of the human factor as new patients are brought in and old ones are discharged. This means that in the field of nursing, you will never get tired because change is always constant.

Lets take a look at the two nurses. One who is a resident nurse or RN and the other a licensed practicing nurse or LPN. Yes, they are both nurses but what makes the two different is the fact that the RN is a specialist while the LPN is a generalist.

The LPN reports to an RN. This is the person that makes the rounds and takes the patients blood pressure and temperature. They administer shots and monitor the catheters. The resident nurse can do the same thing but they are more concerned about other things which is why they have the opportunity to work for instance in ambulatory care, diabetes management, cardiac and vascular nurse, dermatology, HIV/AIDS, oncology, pediatrics and a lot more.

If you dont want your career to be stagnant as an LPN, you can go to school and work at the same time until you are able to earn your degree and finally earn the title of a resident nurse.

Another career choice that can you places is by being a nurse practitioner. Being in this position allows you to perform many of the functions that doctors do that includes prescribing medication. They handle the most common illnesses as well as provide counseling and prevention. For this you need to get a masters in nursing. A study shows that NPs make an average of about $61,000 per annum.

Since we are talking about advanced degrees, another career choice is that of the nurse anesthesiologist. When a patient is undergoing surgery, this person is there to make sure the right dosage is given so the operation is painless. This is considered to one of the highest paying nursing jobs today.

Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in the US. While there are steps being taken to reduce these figures, there are still patients that have to be treated and that is where cardiac care nursing comes in. Cardiac care nurses work with doctors as they perform angioplasty, bypass surgery or install pacemakers. They work in the hospital and at times conduct house calls.

Some patients require long term care. For that, you need a case manager nurse that will keep track of the patients condition at the same time in a cost effective matter. These individuals usually help the young and the elderly who are suffering from illnesses such as AIDS, cancer or heart disease.

There are other nursing careers aside from those mentioned. What happens after you graduate will determine how successful you will become in the future. Nurses who want to go on further are advised to take up advance courses in nursing and then specialize in a particular field.

Nursing is a noble profession. Without these people, no one will be able to look after the patient when the doctor is not available. It should be pointed that there is a shortage of nurses in the US. The government for its part has hired foreign nationals to fill the gap but this is not enough to solve the problem. This is why knowing some facts about a career in nursing could probably encourage students in high school or maybe even in college to make that shift.

1.Entry level nurses earn a lot more than what other professionals earn after graduating from college. One report shows that they get an average of $45,000 a year compared to accountants who only get about $41,000.

2.Unlike other courses that will require the student to get a degree in 4 years, nurses can graduate and find work after 2 years. These programs area namely an Associate Degree in Nursing or AND as well as the Hospital Diploma. Students of these two programs can go back to school later on to further their studies by getting a Bachelor of Science in Nursing or BSN.

3.Nurses may also find work in places other than the hospital. These include schools, correctional facilities, private companies, research labs and homes since only three out of five registered nurses work in a hospital.

4.For the country, majority of nursing jobs are occupied by women despite an increase of 5.4% of males that have joined the workforce. But in the U.S. military, one third of those serving are men.

5.In the US, the ratio between registered nurses and doctors is 4:1. Aside from providing the usual health care services to patients, they also teach patients about prevention and work in other fields such as cardiac, family health, gynecology, neonatal, neurology, oncology, pediatrics and other advance clinical specialties.

6.Nurses work between 8 to 10 hours per shift because the risk of an error happening are greater if they work longer than 12 hours.

7.The reason why the government has to fill the shortage of nurses is to lower the incidence of adverse outcomes with patients. For instance, one study has shown that if the number of registered nurses in a hospital is not increased, there will be a rise in the number of patients who will suffer from lung failure, pressure ulcers and urinary tract infections.

Those with higher resident nurse staffing will have lower rates of adverse patient outcomes enabling them to be discharged later on without further incident.

8.Apart from a shortage in trained nurses, there is also a shortage in nursing faculty. After years of working in a hospital setting, such individuals can apply in schools to teach what they know to the bunch of hopefuls who want to make a difference in the lives of the patients.

The facts mentioned about nursing just goes to show that nurses play a vital life saving role in the overall healthcare system of the country. Doctors which we have a lot of can only do so much and they need the help of trained professionals to follow through what they have done to treat a patient.

If you have the desire to help people, then perhaps you should see if a nursing career is right for you.