Why Be A Registered Nurse? Here Are 5 Great Reasons

Are you considering a career as a registered nurse? If you become a licensed registered nurse, hospitals and healthcare facilities nationwide will come knocking on your door, begging you to come work for them.

In a soft economy, with layoffs in many job fields, that job security alone is a great benefit. But wait, there's a lot more that will be offered to you if you get a degree as a registered nurse. As a result of high vacancy and turnover rates, recruiters have come up with more enticing ways to get nurses to work for them, and to stay with them. Among the benefits provided to registered nurses these days are:

1.) Reimbursement of tuition. For the nurse who just graduated and is struggling with hefty student loans, this can be an excellent incentive. To avail of such incentive, the employed nurse will have to agree to work for the hospital for a specific length of time. Obviously one should check out the facility and make sure that it is somewhere they want to work at for some time to come.

2.) Continuing education scholarships. Many facilities will pay for a nurse to progress to a bachelor's degree of science, or a master's degree, or to specialize in certain areas. Other than getting free education, the nurse can then be promoted to a higher rank, with a corresponding increase in the hourly rate.

3.) Relocation assistance. Most facilities will pay thousands of dollars by way of assistance when you move to their community.

4.) Signing bonuses. These may be as high as $5,000 - $10,000. Again, the nurse must work there for a certain amount of time before receiving that bonus.

5.) Highly-flexible schedule and opportunities to earn more on weekend, holiday, and overtime duty hours. If a nurse opts to take the evening or graveyard shift, or goes on duty on weekends and holidays, he or she is entitled to a higher hourly rate or a "shift differential". Many facilities offer the option to work three 12 hour shifts and pay full-time. Some offer the opportunity to work two 16 hour shifts and be paid a full-time salary.

There are many types of nursing careers to consider as a registered nurse. Visit us at http://nursingschoolprograms.com to learn more about all the nursing programs and career options available for aspiring nurses and RN's.