Finding fulfillment in life is an ongoing process. As humans, we’ve evolved beyond merely needing to find shelter, food, and water, and raising our kids. We can partake in many pleasures, such as media, film, books, food, drink, leisure activities, and romance. For some, fulfillment comes from time spent away from work – with activities like camping, streaming the latest movies, playing board games, hiking, or crafting.
For others, it’s their jobs that provide a sense of fulfillment. It might be the thrill and chase of a salesperson closing a deal, a software engineer perfecting a new application, or a builder finishing off a gorgeous house. One career path that can be incredibly rewarding is nursing – caring for people when they’re ill, infirm, pregnant, or giving birth. With a Master’s degree in Nursing, a diverse range of nursing roles are available to graduates.
But what exactly makes nursing a desirable field for graduates? This informative article will share some reasons, so keep reading to learn more.
Make a Difference at Work
Nurses can achieve more than just performing medical tasks like observing vital signs or dressing wounds. As a nurse, you can significantly impact someone’s life. You can offer care, support and hope to people in need during some of the worst times of their lives. Nurses often emotionally support patients and their families after a devastating diagnosis or adverse medical event. They can celebrate with them when they receive good news, or their disease is cured, and they can become trusted confidants. There’s a reason nurses’ stations in hospitals are often full of flowers, greeting cards and other symbols of appreciation – it’s work that makes a difference.
Nurses Make a Decent Living
Thanks to heavy union membership, nurses can make a fairly decent living. Unions can put pressure on hospitals and health institutions through collective bargaining – which is when staff demand better pay and workplace conditions from their employers with the backing of the union. This union power has granted many benefits to nurses on top of wage increases, such as penalty rates for shift work, additional leave provisions and other workplace benefits like health insurance, gym membership or free parking. By joining the nursing workforce, you can benefit from a good wage and other perks of the job.
You Can Help People
Nursing is an excellent field for graduates to work in if they are kind, compassionate, empathetic and caring. As a nurse, you are the primary caregiver for a patient. While the doctor’s role is to diagnose, prescribe and treat illness and disease, the essential day-to-day tasks of caring for a patient are the nurse’s remit. You’ll monitor vital signs, change wound dressings, assist patients in maintaining their personal care and hygiene, as well as dispense and administer medication that will make them feel better. Nurses also play a critical role in emergency medical care by triaging and stabilizing incoming patients, setting up intravenous lines, stitching wounds and more. So if you are motivated by altruism and a sense of social justice, then a nursing job is the right fit for you.
Nurses Are in High Demand
Humans will always fall ill, contract diseases and break limbs or have falls or otherwise injure themselves. It’s a fact of life. Especially as we age, we become prone to more illness as our immune systems weaken and our bodies wear out. Plus, as a society, we are living longer and require medical care for chronic conditions for even longer. There will always be a strong demand for nurses, as society needs these vital roles to care for our sick and wounded. This means that it should remain relatively easy to find work as a nurse after you graduate, as hospitals and other healthcare providers are always hiring.
You Can Work in Diverse Settings
Once you’re qualified as a nurse and have graduated, there are a variety of settings you can work in. For instance, even within the same hospital, there are many different wards. There’s the emergency department, fracture wards, oncological wards, trauma wards, neonatal wards, and psychiatric wards – all requiring skilled and capable graduates looking to do work that makes a difference. You can work in various settings in the same hospital, building vital workplace experience and broadening your skill set.
There are other settings nurses can work in that aren’t even in hospitals. Some nurses wind up working in community health settings, doctor’s offices, maternal and child health and even in outreach roles in the community. If you become bored with a role, you can apply for a nursing job in a different setting.
Career Progression Opportunities
After some time in entry-level positions, nurses have various career progression opportunities. For instance, there are often senior nurse roles, team leader roles, or even nurse unit manager roles in a hospital setting. In some places, you can become a nurse practitioner with the authority and training to prescribe medication for patients. You could even transition out of nursing after a while, with manager, senior manager and executive-level jobs available in most healthcare settings.
Nursing is a Respected Profession
If you’re a graduate becoming a nurse, you can rest assured that you’ll work in a widely regarded and respected profession. You can happily share what you do for work when meeting new people in social settings such as dinner parties, BBQs, school functions or when out on the town. Unlike other professions, there is no stigma attached to being a nurse, and you can disclose what you do for a living with pride.
Travel Opportunities & Remote Location Benefits
As we mentioned earlier, nursing is an in-demand profession. This is especially the care for some counties with a nurse shortage. If you’re young and haven’t yet established a family, you could travel to different places while working as a nurse. Some recruitment agencies specialize in placing nurses in jobs abroad, so you can see the world while you build your professional expertise.
In some countries, there is a strong demand for nurses in remote or rural locations. For instance, there is a demand for nurses in remote communities or designated Aboriginal towns in Australia. There are often salary incentives for these roles to acknowledge the inconvenience of moving so far away to work. You could earn a solid salary in these positions and save some money as accommodation is often provided for these roles.
In Conclusion
This helpful article has shared what makes nursing a desirable field for graduates to work in. With decent pay, good workplace benefits, and various roles to work in across various settings, this might be the right career path for you. In addition to these benefits, you can truly make a difference in people’s lives, get immense job satisfaction, and share your profession with pride.
