Considering a Career Change to Nursing?

Nursing is an integral part of any medical team, and for most patients, their primary care providers. This profession opens doors to other opportunities, including research and specialization, and healthcare education. Nurses join this profession for many reasons, but the most significant being its personal and practical advantages.

3 Reasons Why You Might Want to Become a Nurse

Job growth and salary

Nursing is both a growing and well-paying profession. According to the BLS, nursing jobs will grow by 15 percent by the year 2026. The median yearly wage for registered nurses (RNs) was $68,450. This is higher compared to the annual median wage of all occupations tracked by the BLS. In the year 2016, almost three million people were employed as registered nurses in the U.S. alone.

Flexibility

Because patients in medical facilities need 24-hour care, you can sometimes choose the most convenient shift for you. This means that if you have your personal care giving responsibilities, you can be able to balance them and your work-life. Some nurses also have shift rotations while others in schools and offices where 24-hour care isn’t needed can work regular business hours. According to the BLS, over 20 percent of nurses work part-time.

Fulfill your desire to help

Nurses provide one-on-one care to their patients, and most of them in hospitals or care homes spend more time with nurses than with doctors or other healthcare providers. Most nurses choose this profession to fulfill their desire to tend to patients. This human side of nursing rather than research-related aspects is attractive to many who join this profession.

Are You Cut Out For the Nursing Field?

Nursing will provide you with the opportunity to care for patients and make a difference in their lives. Very few careers will give you such an opportunity. However, nursing isn’t for everyone. Before you change your career to nursing, you should first take an honest look at yourself and determine whether you are cut out for this field.

Nursing isn’t for the squeamish and faint-hearted

Regardless of the area of nursing, you will be working, you will spend time directly with patients. This means that you will deal with bodily fluids and other unpleasant things. For instance, you may have to assist patients with toileting and dress wounds. If you hate needles and the site of blood makes you faint, becoming a nurse isn’t a great choice.

Can you handle stressing situations?

While working in some nursing specialties is more stressful than others, all nursing areas can have their moments. Sometimes emergencies develop, and a lot can be at stake. Therefore, if you can work well under pressure or thrive in stressful environments, then you may be able to handle nursing.

Critical thinking skills

If you are considering becoming a nurse, it’s important that you ask yourself whether you have critical thinking skills. Nurses have to assess situations most of the time and take quick action. In other cases, nurses have to anticipate what can go wrong and prevent problems before they can even develop.

Skills Obtained from a Nursing Program that can help you handle Job Stress

Emotionally draining work, staffing challenges and long hours can stress even the most strong-willed nurse leading to burnout. Here are some abilities you will need to hone to stave off nurse burnout and continue operating at your very best. Some of them include:

Purposeful communication

Almost everyone in a healthcare is dealing with stress, and inconsistent or poor communication can only heighten it. Patients are worried and they call their nurse, which isn’t wrong if they are fully informed, and this eventually creates a vicious cycle. By fostering purposeful communication whereby people can share information openly, the stress levels decrease.

Attention to detail

It’s important to pay attention even to minute details, especially if you have a lot on your plate. For instance, nurses have the responsibility of documenting everything they do on their patients’ charts, ask the right questions, listen keenly to the description of their symptoms and bring medication during the appropriate time. A simple slip can become a fatal mistake.

Always have a positive attitude

A positive attitude will help you to handle stress better and your sense of humor will enable you to alleviate the toll that all nurses experience.

Are you interested in turning your Bachelor’s into a BSN? If you already have a bachelor’s degree and want to earn a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, consider ECPI University for the education you’ll need to start a new career in nursing. For more information about this exciting program, connect with one of our knowledgeable admissions advisors.

It could be the Best Decision You Ever Make!

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Gainful Employment Information – Bachelor’s to BSN

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