subject: With A Nursing Career, You Have To Take The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly [print this page] With A Nursing Career, You Have To Take The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly
Switching careers to go into registered nursing is all the rage these days. After all, the demand is high, the pay is great, and a career as a registered nurse comes with excellent benefits and a flexible schedule. It's the perfect career move, right?
Perhaps, yes. It can be a great job, but it is definitely not the job for everyone. Here is a breakdown of the things you should consider before applying to nursing school:
The Good: On a daily basis, you get to help people get better or feel better. In this job, you are always wanted because you either take care of the sick and injured or else teach them how to do it themselves. You are also working in a field with such high job demand that many employers are offering thousands of dollars in financial incentive to work with them.
You also are given some flexibility as to when you want to work and even where. While in the hospital, you can choose from different areas of responsibility whether you prefer to be in the ER, labor and delivery, or surgical ward, etc. You may even opt for assignments outside the hospital such as schools, hospice, clinics, and others. Other benefits include earning additional income for overtime shifts, continued education at your employer's expense, and working three 12-hour shifts, and earning full pay for this.
The Bad: You will have to be able to deal with a lot of emotional stress. Depending on the type of nursing job you end up in, you may witness death and heartbreak, right in front of you. You may love your patients and then watch them pass away. Their family members may be right there when that happens.
Keep in mind at all times that the lives of people are practically in your hands. There is no room for error in this job. Giving the wrong type or dosage of medicine, or misreading a patient's vital signs can lead to serious consequences, even death.
The Ugly: The not-so-pleasant aspects of the job include potential lawsuits, handling angry and difficult patients, and dealing with hostile families of patients. The odds of being sued are higher for those who work in the health care field. You can minimize that risk by being careful, being competent, being prepared, following all procedures correctly, documenting everything that you do, and refusing to take on work in an unsafe environment where you know you are not able to give adequate care to patients, but you can never make the risk go away completely.
To an extent, you may also lessen that concern by securing your own medical malpractice insurance on top of whatever protection you get from the hospital, but a lawsuit will always cause stress.
As for dealing with hostile patients, it would help to remember that these people may be at some of the worst times of their lives and are having trouble accepting the circumstances. Pain, anxiety, and discomfort have a way of changing one's attitude. And then again, some people are just unpleasant and difficult to deal with even on a good day, but they need medical care too.
So before jumping into the nursing bandwagon, think of all these first. And bear in mind that there are many nurses out there who love their jobs, and are paid well for their efforts. Talk to some of these nurses, think about the risks and benefits, and then if it makes sense for you, contact your State Board of Nursing for a list of nursing schools near you.
