Future Job

One of my earliest memories is my mother taking me to her work when I was about seven years old. She worked as a labor and delivery nurse at a local hospital and from that point on, I always had a fascination with healthcare. Both of my parents work as nurses, but father started out as a corpsman in the Navy before he transitioned to working in a civilian hospital. Another reason that has pushed me to become a nurse is seeing the impact they have on people. From my own experience and observation of other, I have seen how much of an impact a nurse can make on a person’s life. The profession of nursing requires many duties including caring for a patient’s physical and mental well-being, administering medication, coordinating care with other professionals, and much more depending on the specialization. Skills that are required for nursing include knowledge about diseases and medicines, the ability to work in a team, the ability to adapt and be flexible, patience, and empathy. Nursing involves a wide-range of tools from stethoscopes, to scalpels, to MRI machines and heart valves. The profession of nursing is part of the largely growing healthcare system which is on pace to create 4 million new jobs by 2026. 

As a nurse, you can be expected to work with all members involved in healthcare. This can include doctors, physical therapists, nutritionists, nursing assistants, x-ray techs, nursing students, and much more. Due to the collaboration with many specialties, it is important that nurses know how to work well in a team environment in order to best meet the needs of patients. There are many places nurses can work depending on their specialty, but the main locations include hospitals, schools, prisons, and clinics. Although, when it comes to location, nurses can be found worldwide and there is even a field of nursing that allows you to travel to other countries to work. Companies that you work for as a nurse include major hospitals like Sharp and Kaiser, as well as smaller local hospitals, and even the government in prison or veteran facilities.

The basic requirement for a registered nurse is to pass the NCLEX exam which provides you your licensure. Although this is the basic requirement, many hospitals are looking for nurses who have a bachelor’s degree in nursing or who have worked as LVN’s or nursing assistants. The NCLEX test can vary between 75 to 265 questions determining how you do on the questions and allow a maximum of 6 hours. Internships and externships can either be paid or unpaid and are given out to those with experience typically in a clinical setting through school or previous experience in a hospital.

Career advancement when it comes to nursing is present in specialization or advancement in degree. As a nurse you can take specialty classes and courses in order to become focused in a specific specialty such as obstetrics, psychology, neuro, and others. If you return to school and obtain your master’s, you can work as a nurse practitioner, anesthesiologist, or midwife. The average median salary for registered nurses in 2017 was placed at 70,000 a year with your bachelor’s degree. My goal at the moment is to become a travel nurse because it allows me to explore the world while also helping the people in it. To become a travel nurse, I would need to work at least a year in emergency department or critical care nursing in order to apply.