If you’ve considered making a career change and want to work making a difference to the lives of patients, few choices are as rewarding as a career in nursing. Not only does it allow you the opportunity to make a difference in countless people’s lives, but you can also enjoy a career pathway that allows growth, new challenges, and rewarding professional and personal successes.
While nursing is undoubtedly a demanding career that can involve long hours and at times, highly stressful conditions, it is also a financially and personally rewarding position, giving you the long term ability to develop your career and flourish in multiple fields.
When considering a career in nursing as an option, there are several key points to consider:
Nursing is a profession in high demand
Nursing is a profession that is never out of demand, and one of the core advantages of training in this role is the opportunities it can present to open jobs across a range of sectors and fields. There are currently 3.8 million registered nurses in the US, with over 80% working in a nursing role. Over the next six years, an estimated 200,000 new nurses are expected to train, ensuring a high prospect of employment across the country.
The sector also carries some of the highest levels of patient responsibility, with an aging population and a strained health care system. To avoid a nursing shortage and taking retiring nurses already in the profession into account, it is anticipated over a million roles will need to be opened up in the field, over the next decade. The projected areas of fastest growth include the West and Mountain states and specialties such as geriatrics and care coordination are flourishing in particular.
Nurses are an essential and valuable part of the workforce
As well as making a valuable contribution to the individual lives of patients every day, nurses are also an important part of the national workforce as a whole. Within the healthcare sector, nursing is the largest core employer, with the majority of nurses working in either general or surgical care.
With an estimated average salary of $70,000 annually, they also enjoy some of the highest pay, as well as more reliable job security overall.
Training in nursing allows more career growth
Once having trained for a Bachelor or Master of Sciences in Nursing, you are also able to advance your career in the nursing sector further, with on-going education. An executive nurse leadership program can be an excellent career step by equipping experienced nursing practitioners with the skills and business acumen to stand out as core leaders within hospitals and healthcare facilities.
With a competitive DNP executive leadership salary available, and flexible programmes that allow enrolled students to continue working while studying, it can be a great way of advancing your career. You will need to demonstrate at least two years of experience in managing budget and financial responsibilities in a professional role, as well as the ability to plan and lead strategically in an organization.
You may be able to choose a preferred specialty to work in
There are several key specialties within the healthcare field that continue to have a high demand for nursing, and for those interested in training in a particular subject, or who have a prior background in a given area, this may be a helpful way to consider career options.
When becoming a nurse practitioner, many degrees will offer concentrations during the study in fields including:
- Midwifery: with continued shortages in providers in this sector, nurse midwives are an extremely fast-growing category, and can expect to work in a range of environments, including hospitals and birthing centers.
- Anesthesiology: A nurse anesthesiologist can expect to be responsible for providing anesthesia to patients, as well as managing care during surgery. Nurses in this sector may also be involved in designing or reviewing quality care plans and assessing individual patient needs on a case by case basis.
- Mental health/psychiatry: Working as a psychiatric or mental health nurse is a highly demanding specialty and one that requires advanced training and certification. You may be involved in working alongside other physical specialties which are often comorbid with mental health issues or illnesses and may have the option to focus your training on a particular group of people, such as juveniles or veterans.
You will require a state license to practice as a registered nurse
Once having qualified and passed all of your relevant studies to become a registered nurse, one final and important certification to complete is the National Council Licensure Examination. This usually involves a computerized exam that reviews a wide range of basic nursing topics and is a core requirement to practice in any state in the US.
This will cover the main categories of needs, including the ability to create and manage a safe care environment for patients, psychological integrity to ensure you can cope with the stresses of the role, and physiological integrity, ensuring the comfort and safety of patients.
You should also bear in mind that individual states or employers may also require additional certifications, which can include topics such as basic life support or cardiopulmonary resuscitation skills. In these cases, further relevant training may be available locally.
Career pathways beyond nursing
Training and working as a registered nurse not only provides a diverse range of career opportunities as a practicing nurse, but it can also lead to exciting prospective careers later on, within both the medical and scientific research sectors.
Many registered nurses, particularly those who have specialized in a chosen subject, are then able to go on to pursue doctoral programs, to open career pathways within scientific research, or roles in university education within the nursing sciences.
A career in nursing can also progress to more senior management roles in specialized fields, such as critical care or nurse management.
