Nurses have very rewarding jobs with a growing number of positions available around the country. With a B.S. in Nursing, you can get into a specialty program, start a job right away, or go for a higher degree.
Job security for nurses is at an all-time high, and the demand for nurses almost guarantees a job within 6 months of graduation (88%) of nursing graduates have a job offer in that time frame.
But nursing is a demanding profession that isn’t for everyone. How can you know if nursing is right for you? Let’s look at the pros and cons of nursing.
Should I be a Nurse?
The pros of being a nurse are appealing—especially if you enjoy science and patient care.
Salary
The salary for nurses was 59,450 to 120,250 a year in 2021, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is generally higher than the average salary, but be sure to do research for where you would want to live and work.
Growing Demand
There is a growing demand for nurses, as baby boomers age out of the workforce, and many become patients in various settings. Experts say that almost 200,000 more nurses will be needed by 2031.
Nursing Job Security
If you do your job well, you are likely to keep it. Turnover for nurses at quality facilities is usually low, and you are almost guaranteed to find a job that is pretty good, right out of college.
Is Nursing a Good Career?
Nursing offers many opportunities for growth, advancement, and fun and interesting career paths. If you are considering pursuing a nursing career consider that you could do:
- Travel nursing
- Specialty nursing
- Home Health nursing
- Nurse Practitioner school
Additionally, there is almost always a need for nurses everywhere that people live. So whether you see yourself living in a rural environment or an urban one; in the South, or the North; working with children or with seniors—there will almost always be a place you can challenge yourself and grow in your skills.
Is Being a Nurse Hard?
Physically, mentally, and spiritually, nursing is a demanding career field. While job satisfaction tends to be high among nurses, so does stress. Here are some things that nurses say they encounter in their jobs:
- Not enough time with patients
- Long shifts
- Staffing shortages
- Physical demands
- People who cannot be saved
- Mentally exhausting
- Feeling undervalued/underappreciated
- Shifts they want are unavailable.
In addition to demands of the job, nurses also have demands of their licenses. Nurses in every state are required to do continuing education to keep their licenses up to date.
The best thing you can do when you are deciding whether to do a nursing program is to talk to nurses who are on the ground right now.
Ask them about their stress levels and stress management techniques. Find out what is rewarding to them and what keeps them going.
Qualities of a Nurse
To be a nurse, you need more than just a nursing degree. You need compassion, critical thinking, emotional stability, empathy, physical stamina, and good communication skills.
And remember, you will be communicating not just with patients—but also with doctors, family members, other staff members, and sometimes the public. Knowing how to talk to any of these different people will be critical to doing your job well.
Nurses are also lifelong learners. Nurses don’t graduate and then stop learning about nursing.
Every year, new advancements in medicine and technology are important to the field of nursing, and nurses must keep up their education about these things. Curiosity will help you do your job well.
How to Become a Nurse
There are three basic steps to becoming a nurse:
- Nursing school. Some people choose to become a Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA) or Licensed Vocational/Practical Nurse (LVN/LPN) on the road to becoming an RN. Others decide to go straight into an RN program.
Both routes have pros and cons, and you should do your research and some informational interviews before deciding which way is right for you. - Certification. At the end of school, you take the NCLEX-RN exam to become a Registered Nurse.
- Job Application. Once you have your nursing license in hand, you can apply for RN jobs anywhere!
Conclusion
Is nursing the hardest major? It is certainly demanding, but the rewards are usually worth it. Keep up the good work, and get a degree that will enable you to work with patients hands-on in many different environments.
Crown College offers an accrediting Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing. At the end of it, you will be equipped to take your NCLEX-RN test and be a licensed, certified RN.
Not only that, but you will be equipped to serve your patients like Jesus would, caring for them in a way that glorifies God and honors them as people made in His image.
If you’d like to consider Crown as your next educational step, or even just ask some questions, click the button below and continue on the path God has laid out for you.
