Registered Nurse: A Career Research Report
Becoming a Registered Nurse
For this report write up, I chose to focus on what I am actually going to school to become. I am studying to become a registered nurse (RN). There are many reasons why I have chosen to become a registered nurse. My three top main reasons for my choice are the amount of jobs in this field, the pay, and the certainty that I would enjoy this profession. I am very interested in nursing and I enjoy helping people. Currently, I know the basics about being a registered nurse, and I am eager to learn more. In this report, I will give a description of a nursing career, a nurse’s work environment, skills and characteristics of a nurse, related careers and occupations, the job outlook of nurses, earnings, and a list professional associations for registered nurses.
Description of a Nursing Career
Registered nurses have a variety of different tasks that they perform in their occupation. Their main focus is in the general care of patients in hospitals. They treat patients and help rehabilitate them. They help educate patients, family members, and the public about diseases and medical conditions. Registered nurses provide patients and their families with advice and emotional support. Nurses monitor and administer medication to patients. They are also responsible for recording patient’s symptoms and medical histories. They run diagnostic tests on patients and analyze them.
Registered nurses can also specialize in particular areas. There are typically four ways nurses can specialize. The first way is by the specific work setting or type of treatment. The second way to specialize is by focusing on a particular disease, ailment, or condition. The third way is by specializing in a particular organ or body system. The fourth is by specializing in particular areas of the population. An example of a nurse that specializes is a nurse that works in an operating room and assists in surgeries. Some nurses choose to focus on specific health conditions such as diabetes. There are various ways nurses focus on special areas of nursing.
Work Environment
Most nurses work in health care facilities. Home health care nurses travel to patients’ homes, schools, and other sites. RNs spend a lot of time bending, walking, lifting, stretching, and standing. Nurses can also work shifts that cover any hour of the day. Many patients need 24-hours-a-day care so nurses are always needed in every shift. Some nurses are on call and may have to return to work on short notice. Many nurses work with patients that have contagious diseases, and they also may work around chemicals, compounds and medications. RNs must be educated on how to care for sick patients and they need to know how to protect themselves while caring for the sick.
Skills and Characteristics
RNs must have many necessary skills in order to perform their job. They must have the proper education and training to be an RN. All education programs for nursing require extensive classroom instruction and supervised clinical experience in health care facilities. RNs must also be licensed and certified because they administer medications and care for other people’s lives. Nurses must be caring, sympathetic, detail oriented, and responsible. RNs must be emotionally stable because they have to learn to cope with sick and dying patients and emergencies.
Related Career and Occupations
There are many careers that are related to nursing. Other occupations that deal with direct patient care are licensed vocational nurses, physicians, respiratory therapists, and nutritionists. Other examples of related jobs are radiologic technologists and surgical technologists.
Job Outlook and Earnings
Overall, job opportunities for nurses are projected to be excellent in the future. There will always be a need for nurses because people will always need healthcare. The population is growing and so are the number of nursing jobs. In fact, the demand for RNs is projected to grow more than any other occupation. In 2006, the median earnings of a registered nurse was $57,280 per year.
Professional Associations
There are many professional associations for registered nurses. The National League for Nursing offers free information about nursing professions. The American Nurses Association offers information to the public about credentialing. Searching the internet will lead you to many professional organizations about nursing.
What I Learned
Before researching a career in nursing, I only understood the basics of what a registered nurse actually does. I knew that nurses took care of patients and that careers in nursing are in high demand. I did know that there were many different areas of specialties that nurses practiced in. I learned much more about the different specialty areas nurses sometimes specialize in. This is valuable information that I am glad I have had a chance to learn more about.
Resources
- http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos083.htm
- http://careers.stateuniversity.com/pages/496/Registered-Nurse.html
- http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_skills_are_required_for_registered_nurses
- http://www.discovernursing.com/
- http://www.nln.org/
[Thanks to Shannon for sharing the career research report on how to become a registered nurse and related work information.]
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