ALT-3 Why become a Nurse
The decision to become a nurse needs to be based on more than just a steady income. If you hate your job, money can soon become a thin excuse for working in a given field. So, what are some reasons that you may want to become a nurse?
If you genuinely like helping people, nursing may well be the job for you. Not all nurses do intensive patient care. But, all nurses are involved with some aspect of overseeing the care of people. In a hospital setting, nurses monitor vital signs, food intake, elimination, and a variety of other critical areas that deal with the well-being of the patient.
In a long-term-care facility, nursing can take an even more personal turn. Nurses can learn to extend friendship and encouragement to the residents to help them feel wanted or even needed. This type of interaction can be satisfying to the nurse and have health and mental benefits for the resident. In this environment, the nurse becomes far more than a caregiver. A good nurse should be able to notice nuances in the status of residents from day-to=day.
When such changes are noticed, it is important that the nurse be willing to take steps to get changes in the residents care that will slow or reverse any downward slide in the resident's condition. Being able to help people live out the final years of their life with dignity and a measure of independence has been a strong motivator to keep many nurses in practice.
You may want to consider a career in nursing if you are not willing or able to make that long path through school into the medical profession, but you have a natural interest in human life and anatomy. Becoming a nurse will give the opportunity to be involved in surgical settings and do post-surgical care. Few other occupations will afford a person this kind of opportunity.
On the other side, nursing is a great profession that leads to a relatively secure future. The demand for all types of nurses continues to escalate around the world. Most nurses start at a reasonably good wage and go up. Registered nurses almost always earn significantly more than Licensed Practical nurses because their training is longer and more in depth . In nursing, jobs tend to be plentiful and wages are high compared to other fields with the same educational requirements.
Most nurses are well-respected by society for the type of work they do. Because of this, self-esteem and job satisfaction run high in the nursing field. Nurses can burn out after a few years if they do not take enough time away from the intense requirements of the field. However, if they retain their license, many return to practice later in life.
