Merideth Markum

Career Analysis

March 27, 2002

How To Earn A Nurse's Cap

Nursing is the career I have chosen for my life.  A classmate once asked me what I would want to do if nursing was not an option or if I could not make the grades needed to achieve that goal.  My honest response was that I have no idea.  Since I was a little girl, I have talked and dreamed of becoming a nurse.  It is my "calling" in life, which I eagerly accept.

Nursing is not an easy profession to become a part of or to work in, although most registered nurses are paid fairly well for the hard work they do.  In a survey collected by Nursing2000 to registered nurses across the United States, the mean annual salary for full-time registered nurses was $37,980.  For part-time registered nurses, the mean was $21,250, with a starting pay rate for new registered nurses at $15.41 an hour.  There are three factors that influence the salary of a nurse.  First, is the setting in which one works.  Hospital nurses are on the highest end of the pay scale, with home health coming in a close second (Mee).  Second, is one's work experience and years on the job, and the third is education (Cosgrove 369).

Once a person has chosen to become a nurse, the decision making is far from over.  One must then choose the type of nursing program to enter.  The highest level of schooling for a registered nurse is the Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing (BSN).  This requires four to five years of schooling and is offered at many colleges and universities across the nation.  Ranking just below the BSN is the associate?s degree in nursing (ADN).  This degree requires about two years of schooling and is offered at many junior and community colleges.  The diploma program, which I plan to enter at Riverside School of Nursing, is offered through hospitals.  It requires two to three years of schooling, depending on the hospital, as well as a lot of clinical experience (Untied States Department of Labor 211).  All three of these programs require successful completion of supervised clinical experience and classes such as chemistry, anatomy and physiology, microbiology, psychology, and English.  Speech is also required to help nurses communicate well with their patients and their families (Untied States Department of Labor 212).  After completing one of these programs, the student nurse becomes a graduate nurse.  To obtain the "registered nurse" title, one must take and pass the licensing exam that is required by each state to practice nursing (Cosgrove 368).

Once an individual passes the state-licensing test, the job search begins.  The U.S. Department of Labor stated, "registered nurses to be one of the top twenty-five occupations with fast growth, high pay, and low unemployment" (Cosgrove 370).  In 1998, nursing was considered to be the largest health care occupation, with approximately 2.1 million jobs being held (Untied States Department of Labor 211).  These statistics show the high number of jobs available to nurses.  Even graduates just out of nursing school are quickly placed in a job because there will always be a need for traditional hospital nurses (Untied States Department of Labor 212).

Which type of nurse one chooses to become will determine the exact duties that are required.  General duty nurses perform tasks such as giving medications and shots, taking vital signs, prepping patients for surgery, keeping records of progress of patients, and doing anything else requested of them by their supervisor or doctor (Cosgrove 367).  The largest grouping of nurses is hospital nurses.  There are many categories of hospital nurses, which include maternity, pediatrics, intensive care, surgery, and emergency room (Untied States Department of Labor 211).  Maternity nursing interests me the most because I love babies.  My duties would include helping in the delivery room, taking care of the newborns once they are in the nursery, and teaching new mothers how to feed their babies.  Other types of registered nurses, which require graduate school and special training, are certified nurse-midwifes, nurse practitioners, head nurses, and advanced practice nurses.

Being sympathetic and caring are two very important traits of a nurse.  "Nurses must be capable of accepting responsibility, able to follow orders, and know when consultation is needed" (Untied States Department of Labor 212).  Patience, another much needed character trait, is daily tried by sick patients and worried family members.  Nursing is an emotionally taxing job in many ways.  The long hours, constant demands of patients and doctors, physical hazards of the job, and being around human suffering could easily stress one beyond a reasonable limit, if one is not emotionally stable.  Because I am easily attached to people and sympathize on a deep level with people when they are sick or in pain, I anticipate having a difficult time with stress when I first begin working.  I know time and experience will teach me how to deal with this, without changing how I relate to people.

"A nurse works to promote health, to help patients cope with illness," (Untied States Department of Labor 210) and "to help individuals, families, and groups to achieve health and prevent disease" (Cosgrove 366).  To me, there are not many careers available that could possibly be more fulfilling and rewarding than nursing.  Being the one to help someone feel better when they are sick or in pain and being the one to comfort families when they are worried or have lost their loved one would be deeply meaningful to me as my life's work.  Nursing would be a wonderful job which I hope to be blessed enough to have the opportunity to study, train for, and fully embrace.

Work Cited

Cosgrove, Holli, ed.  "Registered Nurses."  Encyclopedia of Careers and Vocational Guidance.  11th ed. 366-370.

Mee, Cheryl.  "Nursing2000 Salary Survey."  Nursing 2001.  March 22, 2002.                http://www.tnpj.com/content/nursing/0004/salsur04.htm.

United States. Department of Labor. Bureau of Statistics.  Occupational Outlook Handbook.  2000-2001 ed. Washington: GPO, 2000.

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