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There are literally hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of different careers you could choose from. There are jobs around today that didn’t exist just a few years ago, and – excitingly for future generations – there are jobs that haven’t even been created yet.
As wondering as this all is in terms of our choices and being able to do something that matches our skills, personality, and what we enjoy doing, it does also mean that making that initial choice is harder than it has ever been in the past. The options seem limitless, and no one wants to make a mistake; making a mistake means being miserable at work (which has a knock-on effect at home and in all other areas of your life), or it means having to start all over again and learn a new skill and begin searching for a new career.
The former issue is certainly something to deal with as quickly as possible, and the latter one is something that should be fixed – starting again is not the end of the world, even if it seems like a problem at the time.
However, to be happy and not to waste any time having to re-start in a different sector, it’s ideal if you can choose the right job from the off. That’s why it’s vital to do as much research as you can and to ensure that you have looked closely at every potential option.
Take nursing, for example. You might have dismissed it outright because it seems like a lot of hard work, or you don’t like the idea of shift work, or you’re worried that you don’t have the right mindset for it. Or maybe you’re on the fence about becoming a nurse, and you just can’t quite work out whether you should take the next step.
Maybe it’s time to have another – closer – look at what nursing is all about. There are a number of motivating reasons to become a nurse, and it could be that this is what you should be doing all along. With that in mind, read on to find out more about nursing and give yourself the option of becoming part of this amazing sector of the healthcare profession.
Nurses Help People Every Day
If you were to ask nurses what their main motivation for choosing their career was, it is likely that the majority of them will tell you it’s because they have the chance to help many people, and they can do that every working day of their lives. That’s an important thing to be able to do, and it can lead to immense job satisfaction, as well as a deep contentment in life – if you know you are making a difference every time you interact with someone at work, wouldn’t you be happy too?
It’s true that making this difference and helping your patients can be draining, emotionally, mentally, and physically. It’s true that there is a lot of hard work and a lot of learning to get through (in fact, the learning never actually ends – you’ll always need to stay up to date with new nursing techniques and ideas about patient care), but the outcome of all this hard work is the chance to be selfless and improve other people’s lives, and that is definitely worth working hard for in many people’s eyes.
Could this be the reason you decided to be a nurse? How different – and more positive – would your life be if you were able to help at least one person every single day?
The Role Of A Nurse Is Always Changing
We briefly mentioned above that there are often new ideas when it comes to healthcare and nursing specifically. This is a very positive thing for a number of reasons. To begin with, it’s clearly going to be best for the patient; if they are getting the most up-to-date care, their treatment will be better, and hopefully their recovery will be faster.
However, the fact that the role of a nurse is always changing and there are constantly new things to know and understand is good for the nurse themselves too. Your working life will never be boring, and as long as you are committed to life-long learning, you’ll be able to get the most out of your career.
There are many different ways a nurse can enhance their knowledge. One way is to read journals and nursing blogs, and news and ensure you speak to your manager about any new ideas you might have had or read about. Another way that can be very useful if you want to gain a promotion and move forward in your career is to go back to school. This might seem like a lot of effort, but at a great online school such as Wilkes University, you can work online at your own pace and in your own time. This means you can keep working as well as work towards a new qualification. Not only will you gain more knowledge, but you can gain more experience at the same time, enhancing your skills hugely and giving you not just the knowledge but the confidence to take the next step.
There Is A Sense Of Community
Some people like to be alone a lot of the time, and there is nothing wrong with that (although human interaction is good for you and should be something you do from time to time, at least, even if you do normally prefer your own company). However, others thrive in an environment with other people, especially if there is a real sense of community. Nursing can offer you this. In fact, the community is a crucial aspect of nursing, and without it, the work would be a lot harder, and patient care might even suffer.
Nurses have to work towards a common goal, and they can only do this as a tight-knit team. There is no room for selfishness, and the team is all-important. Of course, you can have your own ideas and take the initiative, but teamwork means that the entire process goes much more smoothly, and patients benefit more.
The sense of community within nursing isn’t just present in the clinic, hospital, or other healthcare facility you might work in. It extends far beyond this. As a nurse, you’ll find that you have difficult things to deal with in your work. Just as there are successes and positive things to be found and celebrated, there are negative things too – people will die or be injured in a life-changing way. They will be scared, and they might even be angry. You will need to deal with all of this and help them, no matter what.
Having a sense of community and a lot of support around you means that you can more easily handle these difficult situations. You can rely on the help of your colleagues who understand exactly what you’re going through and who can offer advice or at least a shoulder to cry on – or a listening ear. Having this, and offering it to others, is another reason to become a nurse. You’ll never be alone, and you’ll have plenty of backup in both the good and bad times.
Nursing Is Flexible
If there is one thing most people would not associate with nursing, it’s flexible working. Nurses work long, hard hours, and they have shifts to contend with. What’s flexible about that? The fact is that compared to a regular nine-to-five kind of work day – the traditional work day, as it might be called – nursing is very flexible. Yes, there are long shifts, but equally, there are additional days off. These days off occur not just at weekends when the majority of other people are not working but in the week, too, depending on how your shifts fall. This means that you can go to places without too many crowds, you can enjoy some peace and quiet, you can be there for the kids if they have a school event, and much more. Many people find this to be better than a traditional working day, and they can get a lot more done, ensuring they have a good work-life balance.
Nursing is flexible in other ways too. To begin with, thanks to the close team you’ll be working with, it is possible to switch your shifts with someone if you need to – and if they agree. In return, you’ll do the same for them if and when they need to switch their days around. So if there is a special event that you need to attend, you can speak to a colleague and work something out most of the time.
Another reason that nursing is flexible is that, once you have your qualification, you can essentially work anywhere. You can pick and choose which hospital or clinic you work in, which city, which state, or even which country. As long as you have your nursing qualification and the right experience, you can work anywhere. In some cases, there will be additional certificates to gain (often if you intend to work in a new country, for example), but in general terms, you have all the choices you might want.
Since nurses are in demand everywhere, you have the choice of what you want to do, where you want to do it, and how you want to do it, and that’s a motivating factor by itself.
