Provide nursing care to patientsNursing can sometimes be a physically strenuous and risky jobNurses often work evenings and weekendsYou'll need a nursing diploma or degree
Nurses are the building blocks of health care in America. Reuters
reports that people in the health-care field are very concerned about a nursing
shortage across the country. If their numbers are insufficient, so is our
quality of medical care.
Registered nurses (RNs) provide nursing care to patients in a variety
of settings. They may specialize in surgery, neurology, emergency, intensive
care, obstetrics, gerontology or other areas of health care.
RNs engage in a wide range of health promotion activities. Their duties
are diverse and their services are in great demand, especially due to the
baby boomers. Those are people born between 1946 and 1964. The number of Americans
age 65 and older will double over the next 30 years.
"There tends to be a very strong demand in all the health-care sectors,
and nursing is no different," says RN Kathie Swindell. "There's a big demand...
We have an aging population, so they certainly are a generation that is requiring
a lot of support."
RNs have many duties, including assisting in surgery, giving out medications,
observing and monitoring patients, helping with rehabilitation, and comforting
or counseling patients.
"While the general public puts nurses as the number one most trusted profession,
they really do not have a clear understanding of what the nurse actually does,"
says RN Dianne Moore. "It is a great deal more than just hand holding, medication
giving or bed making."
You'll find most registered nurses working in hospitals and nursing homes.
However, there are also opportunities for registered nurses in doctors' offices,
clinics, public health-care agencies, government offices, schools and industrial
plants.
Nurses usually work in clean, well-lit environments. Their work involves
being on their feet for much of their workday, which can be as long as 12
hours. Work hours for nurses vary considerably. They can expect to work a
lot of weekends, evenings and holidays.
Nurses have to keep on their toes at all times, even when fatigue strikes.
Nursing can be physically strenuous and risky. There are heavy patients to
be moved and complex equipment to use. They also deal with patients who have
life-threatening illnesses such as hepatitis or AIDS.
"Nursing is demanding," says RN Dennis Sherrod. He's a nursing professor
at Winston-Salem State University with more than 30 years of
nursing experience. "One of the things I've always loved about nursing care
[is that] when you're on a unit, it requires every bit of you that day. It
requires you to focus on exactly where you are. When you walk into a patient's
room you need to prioritize what that patient's needs are as you move from
patient to patient."
"The registered nurse demand continues to be strong, and promises to be
strong through 2015," says Sherrod. "Some places still have a shortage, though
the decline in the economy has kind of reframed that shortage...
"We know that a large part of our nursing workforce right now are baby
boomers, and they're beginning to retire, so as they begin to retire that
adds additional... growth for positions in nursing," says Sherrod.
"There is an acute shortage of professional nurses and it will get worse
in the next 10 years as nurses retire and the baby boomers age and need more
care," says Moore. She's the director of nursing education for the American
Nurses Association of California.
"We need more nurses who are smart, caring and ethical, who are lifelong
learners and see nursing as a profession, not just a good paycheck," Moore
adds. "I see many who are entering nursing programs because they can make
a good steady salary (average $80,000 per year in L.A. area) but who cannot
sustain the work because it is complex and demanding."
The Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) has a specific category for registered
nurses. There were 2.1 million people employed in this category in 1998.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says that in 2000, there
are an estimated 2,115,815 nurses employed across the country.
The median earnings for registered nurses were $40,690 in 1998, reports
the OOH. Earnings ranged from $29,480 through $69,300.
The Department of Health and Human Services says that the salaries for
staff nurses in 2000 vary depending on employment setting, their education
and their years of experience. Median earnings ranged from $40,097 for those
working in hospitals through to $30,690 for those in student health services.
Most nurses get additional pay for overtime hours. Some earn extra pay
for being "on-call," which means they can be reached at all times and can
come to work immediately if needed.
According to the OOH, the employment of registered nurses is expected to
grow faster than average through 2008. This trend will be the result of an
aging population needing more health care, technological advances in treating
illness, and retirements.
While experts are predicting a growing demand for the services of RNs due
to an aging population, they admit it's difficult to predict whether this
will translate into more jobs or just more work for existing nurses. Nursing
relies heavily on government budget decisions for employment.
Nursing is a cyclical profession -- which means jobs become available within
a certain range of years and then the opportunities drop off again.
With the current movement toward community-based health care, nurses may
find themselves working less in hospitals and more as public health nurses.
Experts say that there will always be a need for specialized nurses. These
are nurses who have advanced skills and often a master's degree.
For those nurses with lots of experience and advanced training, there are
opportunities to get into supervising and teaching positions, as well as administrative
positions. Some even work as private practitioners.
Job prospects are better in remote areas, which are always in need of health
care professionals -- though these jobs may require a nurse to have an advanced
degree.
RegionAverage Annual EarningsAverage Hourly EarningsU.S. National$65,130$31.31RegionOutlook2008 Workforce2008 to 2018 Growth RateU.S. NationalIncreasing2,618,72022.2%
Becoming a registered nurse requires college study and a licensing examination
administered by a nursing association.
There are two common paths to nursing in the U.S. One is earning a bachelor's
of science degree in nursing (BSN). The other is earning an associate degree
in nursing (ADN). There are also diploma programs administered by hospitals,
but they are far fewer in number.
BSN programs take about four years to complete. ADN programs take two to
three years, and diploma programs take about three years.
In general, graduates of BSN programs will have greater opportunities for
advancement.
Many nurses do graduate work after earning a bachelor's degree. Extra education
can lead to higher levels of pay and additional responsibilities.
Universities across North America offer BSN programs. Most nursing associations
recommend that students pursue a degree in nursing rather than a diploma.
It will qualify them for better job opportunities, as well as provide them
with a good education to prepare them for the increasing complexity of health
care.
Nursing students get supervised clinical experience in addition to classroom
instruction. Course material includes physiology, chemistry, nursing theory,
psychology, anatomy, nutrition and microbiology. Nursing programs typically
includes liberal arts courses as well.
"Middle school is a real good time for students to begin thinking about
what they want to do," says nursing professor and RN Dennis Sherrod. "They
really need a good, strong preparation in science and mathematics.
"They [also] need strong interpersonal skills, and that is interacting
with individuals, social skills," Sherrod says. "[And] they need technology
skills. That's one of the things that's big these days -- much of the stuff
we're doing in hospital settings and clinical settings, we're using more and
more technology."
If you're considering a career in nursing, it's a good idea to volunteer
at a hospital. As well, you might want to take a first aid course and a CPR
course to find out if you're comfortable with this type of work.
"Volunteering when you're starting out and supporting your community is
a great way to see what any kind of health-care career is about," says RN
Kathie Swindell. "We have junior volunteers in hospitals [and they can] find
out what it's like interacting with patients... [T]hose are times in their
lives when they're most needy, and so to have skills to be able to interact
with people and make them feel comfortable is very important."
Associations
American Nurses Association
8515 Georgia Avenue, Suite 400
Silver Spring
,
MD
20910-3492
USA
Internet
:
http://www.ana.org
National League For Nursing
61 Broadway
New York
,
NY
10006
USA
Toll-free
:
800-669-9656
Internet
:
http://www.nln.org/
Links
Occupational Employment Statistics
The OES has labor market data on over 700 careers
Consider Nursing
Everything you need to know, from the American Nurses Association
10 Reasons to Love Nursing
Read this for a little inspiration
Center for American Nurses
This organization works to create healthy workplaces
World Health Organization
The home page of WHO, the United Nation's health organization
based in Switzerland