When I was looking into career options, nursing attracted my attention for a variety of reasons, you could go anywhere, work with adults, children, in public health, prisons, physicians’ offices, schools, factories, and were only limited by your level of education; I found that nursing could be whatever I wanted to make of it. People need nurses in all aspects of life. If I were to ever feel “expended out” in one area, I could educate myself and expand into another field of nursing. If I needed to move to another country, I could transfer and easily find my niche there. The sensation that you feel when you know you accomplished your goal to aid an individual is priceless.
Most nurses work directly with the patients and their families. They are the families’ contact with the medical world, in both the hospital and the patients’ home. A nurse does frequent evaluations of the patient and check vital signs to make sure everything is going as planned. Nurses perform procedures such as IV placement, phlebotomy (process of taking blood samples from the patient) and administering medication. Working hours for a nurse are different almost all the time, since no one can predict when an emergency will arise. They must be available twelve hours a day, and be able to handle rotating shifts.
Nursing is a respected profession. People not only need nurses, they look up to them for support and direction. I think this is the best career move I could ever make. Being a nurse in not just an occupation; it’s a commitment to the profession of nursing. Nursing is a profession filled with challenges starting with an intense preparatory education program, which leads to physically strenuous work schedules and mentally demanding clinical decision-making.
The potential is endless in this field, from specialty areas to general population, and from newborns through geriatrics. Nursing is probably the most personally rewarding job there is. For the people I will care for, I...