Nursing is a noble profession. Without these people, no one will be able to look after the patient when the doctor is not available. It should be pointed that there is a shortage of nurses in the U.S. The government for its part has hired foreign nationals to fill the gap but this is not enough to solve the problem. This is why knowing some facts about a career in nursing could probably encourage students in high school or maybe even in college to make that shift.
1. Entry level nurses earn a lot more than what other professionals earn after graduating from college. One report shows that they get an average of $45,000 a year compared to accountants who only get about $41,000.
2. Unlike other courses that will require the student to get a degree in 4 years, nurses can graduate and find work after 2 years. These programs area namely an Associate Degree in Nursing or AND as well as the Hospital Diploma. Students of these two programs can go back to school later on to further their studies by getting a Bachelor of Science in Nursing or BSN.
3. Nurses may also find work in places other than the hospital. These include schools, correctional facilities, private companies, research labs and homes since only three out of five registered nurses work in a hospital.
4. For the country, majority of nursing jobs are occupied by women despite an increase of 5.4% of males that have joined the workforce. But in the U.S. military, one third of those serving are men.
5. In the US, the ratio between registered nurses and doctors is 4:1. Aside from providing the usual health care services to patients, they also teach patients about prevention and work in other fields such as cardiac, family health, gynecology, neonatal, neurology, oncology, pediatrics and other advance clinical specialties.
6. Nurses work between 8 to 10 hours per shift because the risk of an error happening are greater if they work longer than 12 hours.
7. The reason why the government has to fill the shortage of nurses is to lower the incidence of adverse outcomes with patients. For instance, one study has shown that if the number of registered nurses in a hospital is not increased, there will be a rise in the number of patients who will suffer from lung failure, pressure ulcers and urinary tract infections.
Those with higher resident nurse staffing will have lower rates of adverse patient outcomes enabling them to be discharged later on without further incident.
8. Apart from a shortage in trained nurses, there is also a shortage in nursing faculty. After years of working in a hospital setting, such individuals can apply in schools to teach what they know to the bunch of hopefuls who want to make a difference in the lives of the patients.
The facts mentioned about nursing just goes to show that nurses play a vital life saving role in the overall healthcare system of the country. Doctors which we have a lot of can only do so much and they need the help of trained professionals to follow through what they have done to treat a patient.
If you have the desire to help people, then perhaps you should see if a nursing career is right for you.
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