With a Nursing Career, You Have To Be Ready for The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

Nowadays, it seems that more and more people are leaving their present careers to go into nursing. After all, the demand is high, the pay is great, and a career as a registered nurse comes with excellent benefits and a flexible schedule. It's the perfect career move, right?

Well, maybe.

True, being a nurse is a great job. But it's not all sugar and spice once you get into this vocation. Outlined below are the things you may want to seriously consider first before embarking on a nursing career:

THE GOOD. Every day that you go into work, you are helping sick people get better or feel better. You are teaching sick or injured people how to take care of themselves. You are in a job where you are truly, urgently needed. You are also in a field where the job demand is s high that employers are willing to offer a lot in terms of benefits and pay just to get you on board with them.

You also are given some flexibility as to when you want to work and even where. While in the hospital, you can choose from different areas of responsibility whether you prefer to be in the ER, labor and delivery, or surgical ward, etc. You may even opt for assignments outside the hospital such as schools, hospice, clinics, and others. You have the chance to work tons of overtime if and when you want to. Your employer will pay to further your education. You can work three twelve hour shifts and have that be considered full time in some facilities.

THE BAD. You will have to be able to deal with a lot of emotional stress. Depending on the type of nursing job you end up in, you may witness death and heartbreak, right in front of you. You may love your patients and then watch them pass away. Their family members may be right there when that happens.

Keep in mind at all times that the lives of people are practically in your hands. There is no room for error in this job. Giving the wrong type or dosage of medicine, or misreading a patient's vital signs can lead to serious consequences, even death.

THE UGLY. The not-so-pleasant aspects of the job include potential lawsuits, handling angry and stubborn patients, and dealing with hostile families of patients. Anyone who works in the healthcare field runs the risk of being sued. Of course, there are many ways of minimizing the risk. You can do this by exercising precision and competence in handling vital procedures, carefully observing rules, documenting everything, and by ensuring a suitable working environment where proper care can be given to patients. However, there is only so much you can do to minimize potential liability claims.

To some extent, you can lessen that concern by getting personal medical malpractice insurance in addition to whatever protection the hospital is giving, but a lawsuit will always cause stress.

As for angry and hostile patients - you are dealing with people at the absolute worst time in their life, when they are sick, afraid, and in pain. And they may not react well to being in that situation. And then again, there are those who are just unpleasant and difficult to deal with even on a good day, but they should still receive the medical attention they need.

These are all things to consider before embarking on a nursing career. And bear in mind that a lot of nurses do find fulfillment in their jobs, and are paid well for their services. Talk to some of these nurses, weigh the pros and cons, and then if it makes sense for you, contact your State Board of Nursing for a list of nursing schools near you.

If you are convinced a nursing career is right for you, visit us to see what the high paying nursing jobs are right now. You'll also find information on all the nursing school programs and degrees that you can pursue to get your career started today.