Is Nursing a Good Career?
Consider nursing as a career if you want a high-paying job with many workplace options. The U.S. and global job market have a shortage of registered nurses that is expected to grow in the future. Job security for a nurse ranks high, with very little competition in job placement.
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Registered Nurses
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A registered nurse with less than one year of experience can expect to make an average of $25 per hour in the United States. Pay rates increase along with experience, topping off at about $35 per hour after 20 years. This is an average of all the states combined. In New York City, Boston, Los Angeles and other large metropolitan areas, the pay scale is much higher.
Sign-on bonuses may be available for RNs who contract to stay in a position for a specified amount of time. Periodic bonuses also may being offered for each consecutive year of work at many medical locations.
You will go through a two-year program to become a licensed RN.
Nurse Practitioner
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Becoming a RN used to be the highest level of nursing you could achieve. Today, you have room for advancement by becoming a nurse practitioner or physician's assistant. These positions work side by side with a doctor and fulfill many of the same duties, such as prescribing medication. You will go through a two-year specialize degree program for these positions. Prerequisites vary by state, but most requiring two years of previous education in the health field, such as RN training.
Pay rates for nurse practitioners can range from $60,000 to $100,000 per year, depending upon your experience and location.
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Placements for Nurses
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A RN can choose from a variety of work venues. The excitement of emergency medicine in an ER or delivering babies in a hospital's obstetrics unit are just two possibilities. Visiting nurses make house calls to people who need home health care. This type of nursing may appeal to you if you do not like to stay in one location all day. If you like kids, you can become a school nurse who works with children all day and gets the additional benefit of an extended summer vacation. For someone who likes to travel, you can see the world by becoming a military nurse.
Nontangible Benefits
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Nurses have some of the most flexible schedules of any career path, as they are needed around the clock, seven days a week. If you experience a life change such as having children or needing to care for an elderly parent, you can continue working by choosing a shift that fits the time and days that work best for your schedule. Nurses also can work on a part-time basis.
The rewards of this career are not just monetary. Nursing allows you to help people during some of the most trying times of their lives. If you enjoy helping people, the satisfaction you will get from providing care for someone is a reward in itself.
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Comments
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I have been reading that the "shortage" does not exist.. Is this true? I start pre-meds next month.......................
