Nursing

Description

Did you know that there are four nurses for every doctor in the United States?  Nurses play a tremendous role in our medical system and spend the most time with patients.

According to the Mayo Clinic: "Nurses work to promote health, prevent disease, and help patients with illnesses. When treating a patient, they observe, assess, and record symptoms, reactions, and progress. Nurses work alongside doctors when it comes to treatment plans and exams, administering medications, and monitoring patient recovery. " 

It is an extensive process to become a nurse and there are many specialties to choose from.

Something Cool

According to NurseJournal.org, there are more than 100 nursing specialties.  

Types of Companies

After education and training there are many different job options, but a lot depends on what specialty you choose.  The big choice is whether to work in a hospital or a clinic.   

• Hospitals: These are large facilities with many specialties under one roof.  If you are looking for the diversity and security of a large company, this could be a good fit for you.  Hospitals are 24/7/365.  Shifts are typically 12 hours, 3 days a week. Some units offer 8 or 10 hour shifts. You have to be willing to work some weekends and holidays.

• Clinics: These are smaller facilities, often owned by one or two doctors.  They typically focus on a single specialty and have much fewer employees.  These jobs are most likely to give you a 9am to 5pm schedule.

• Other Setting: Schools, cruise ships and other places where basic medical attention is needed for a large population in a dedicated setting.

Further Education & Credentials Required (United States)

There are two main educational choices when pursuing a nursing career: 

• Associate Degree: 2 year degree that will set you on the path to become a licensed vocational nurse (LVN).  This type of nurse has limited roles and responsibilities. Jobs are typically offered to LVN's in medical clinics or for basic tasks in the hospitals (like getting patient's vital signs).  

• Bachelor's Degree: 4 year degree that will set you on the path to become a registered nurse (RN).  This will give you more choices and earning potential.  Note that there are master's and doctorate nursing programs too, but that's not immediately necessary for standard bedside nursing.  

In this discussion I will focus on the path to becoming a RN.

• Step 1A - Bachelor's Degree (4 years): Getting a nursing degree is not as simple as marking "nursing" as your major upon entering college. Typically, you have to find a 4 year university that has a nursing program. Each program has prerequisite classes that you must complete during the first two years of your degree. Every nursing program will require you to have completed anatomy, physiology, chemistry, and biology. These are the foundation science classes that nursing school builds off of. Nursing programs look at your grades from your first 2 years of college, with extra weight on grades from the science classes, as well as your score on the TEAS exam. TEAS stands for Test of Essential Academic Skills.  This is a standardized exam that nursing programs use to assess their applicants. Your grades combined with your TEAS exam score (and often a formal interview) determine your acceptance into the nursing program.

• Step 1B - Nursing Program (Years 3-4 of BA): Once accepted to a nursing program, you begin your nursing classes. With nearly every class you also have a "clinical." For example: basics of human body and nursing theory is accompanied with a semester shadowing a nurse in the medical/surgical floor at the hospital. For each class in nursing school, you also have days in the hospital practicing the skills you are learning in theory in the classroom. Nursing school classes typically include medical/surgery, critical care nursing, OBGYN, pediatrics, pharmacology, physiology, mental health, and community nursing. Nursing school is not for the faint of heart. You have 12 hour clinical days.  You are required to go to the hospital the day before, pick a patient or two, and complete a "care plan" that is a 20-30 page essay about that patient's medical history and medical needs. Nursing school is constant papers, exams, labs, skills sessions, hospital days, etc. You also have to be able to complete basic math problems at 100% accuracy.  Nurses use math to calculate medication dosages - literal life or death situations when it comes to certain medications. 

• Step 2 - Nursing Boards: Upon completion of your nursing program and graduating, you then sign up to take your nursing boards: The National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX). Once you pass the NCLEX, the state where you met the requirements gives you the right to practice nursing.

• Step 3 - Training: You are officially a RN when you pass your boards, but you still have to be trained by a hospital on how to do whatever specialty you've selected. Many hospitals offer a "new grad program" for new RNs. Example: NICU new grad program, which includes 12 weeks of classes and shadowing NICU nurses to learn how to properly care for and save the micro preemies. If you want to work in a clinic and have more of a 9am - 5pm job, you can take this route and hope they will be willing to train you on the job.

Entry Level Roles - Day to Day Experience

You day to day experience will depend on your specialty. There is an RN specialty for just about any function of the human body, at any age, for any gender. 

Nurses check vital signs, begin IVs, administer medications, help with physical therapy/occupational therapy, communicate with doctors and the rest of the care team, do any and all hygiene tasks, monitor patient's status, and do many other tasks to care directly for patients. There are also nurses that can be specially trained to do more intensive jobs, like start central lines, do urine catheterizations, and place breathing tubes. Much of a nurse's day is spent charting every single action to ensure clear records. 

Essentially, the doctors write the orders, and the nurses do the rest. Nurses are the members of the medical team most connected with the patients on an ongoing basis. They are the front line to patient care.

How To Learn More

• Check out YouTube videos on the life of being a nurse: link.

• Research the NCLEX: link

• Talk to someone doing the role you want.  This is so important for being a doctor as you are embarking on a long and costly journey of training.  Check out my writings on The Gift of Asking for Help, Mentors and Networking 101 on The Search page to learn how to do this.

  • Better understand your own skills and where you will be successful at Roles.

  • Check out my writings on various industries and departments at the Industries page.

  • Already know what you want to do but are looking for guidance on how to find a job within that industry?  Check out The Search for advice.