Why NURSING profession instead of another healthcare career?

Why people choose to go into nursing is widely varied. Many go into nursing because they hear it is easy to get a job, and the income is pretty good. Many go into nursing because there are some associate degree programs which do not require as long in school as many other health care opportunities. Some go into nursing for more altruistic reasons, such as the desire to help others. And some go to a nursing program as a means to achieve a longer term goal, such as nurse anesthetist.

In the past nursing was often seen as a secondary job for many families, and was not considered to be an important income source. Increasing salaries, and new opportunities and a wider scope of practice has brought nursing out as the primary income in many families.

To be correct in terminology nursing has not yet reached the level of a profession, in the hierarchy of the professions scale, however, it has moved from semi-profession to emerging profession, and shows promise at achieving the status of profession eventually.

Personally, I went to nursing school purely as a means to another goal. When I first started in nursing school males were not common in nursing (less than 1%) so going to nursing school was the farthest thing from my mind when I finished high school. However, I learned about the work that males were doing as nurses in the Army, and especially as nurse anesthetist, so I decided to go into nurse anesthesia. This required a bachelor of science in nursing and then additional school for anesthesia (at that time it was not a Master of Science program).

I never got into anesthesia, because I found many other interesting areas of nursing, and was distracted from that path. Over the past 30 years I have worked in many areas of nursing including medical surgical, psychiatric, OR, Trauma Team, Med-evac, Organ Transplant. I have taught in junior college and university programs, as well as teaching medical and dental students, PA and Advance Practice Nursing Students, and post graduate Physicians, and other health care specialist. I have managed ambulatory surgery centers, and medical clinics, and was the Clinical Administrator of a Medical Research and Treatment Institute. I have also worked independently as a nurse practitioner in family practice, and done research and worked in pain control and headache management.

I say you should go into nursing (if you are interested) because there are unlimited opportunities to do virtually anything you like, and advance as far as you are willing to work to go.

A friend of mine became the first nurse to be named the Surgeon General of the US Army. This position has always been a physician until now. I have known others who have gone on to be the administrators of major medical centers.

Once you have the basis of nursing, you can then add the additional education to go wherever you want to be in health care. I even have friend who went to nursing school, and then decided to proceed to medical school.

Or if you like, you can work as an RN, and often set a schedule in some areas. Such as one of the guys I went to school with who is a travel nurse a few moths a year, and lives the rest of the year on his boat in the Caribbean.

There are many options.

The pay is great....starting nurses at my hospital are making $29 an hr. The hours are usually pretty good too. 12 hr shifts means only working 3 days a week, that's 4 days off! You also accure PTO and take even more days off. The areas of nursing vary greatly so if you don't like one, just switch to another. The jobs are everywhere and in every state the demand is great so getting a job and living anywhere you please is the best. AND best of all it's one of the shortest degrees you can get and still make the good money.

Good luck!

Forget chilli's if you really like working with people. Quit the job and try the Peace Corps after college. It gives you a chance to really make a difference, learn a new language, help the world, and learn more about yourself (and pay off student loans). When you get back you can decide if you want to continue law school or some other post-grad educational path. Both doors are open to you and by giving yourself a few years of self-discovery it will actually look better when you apply to schools. If you cant wait that long till you graduate try volunteering in a path you might be interested in- if you want to do law school what kind of law do you want to pursue? Human rights, environmental, immigration? Try getting involved on a smaller level to see if it sparks something. Good luck.

As an RN you can choose any field of health care you like, the pay and benefits are good, you can usually get all the overtime you like, lots of vacation time, and working around medical professionals is pretty cool most of the time, tho there are jerks in every profession.