If you are in the process of choosing your career path then you know how challenging it is to decide if a certain job is right for you. In case you are thinking about being a nurse (or working in any other position) you need to consider what all that job involves, what skills and knowledge you need and whether you feel you fit the given criteria. When you think of nursing jobs, you probably have in mind the care of the patient and the cooperation with the doctors in achieving the most successful treatment, but the job of a nurse is much, much more than that. Below you can read more information and conclude if nursing is the right career for you.
Health and social care assistance are among the industries with the fastest job growth, up 13%, according to Lensa.
The nursing job is wonderful and very humane, but only if you are ready to accept all the positive and negative sides of this career. Here are some questions to ask yourself in order to decide if it makes sense for you to become a nurse.
1. Are you willing to dedicate your life to helping sick people
To be completely honest, nurses don’t interact that much with healthy people. Their job is based on helping the sick who are often helpless, especially if they have a serious illness or are very old.
So, let’s face it, helping people is a very nice act, but it can also be very stressful if you’re too empathetic or can’t separate the professional from the private. To become a good nurse who is highly professional and performs all of their business tasks without too much stress it is essential that you are driven by helping other people. For some people the purpose of their whole life is to be of help to the sick and infirm. And precisely such types of people are born for the nursing job because they feel pleasure in helping others.
In case you are considering a nursing career, keep in mind that you will be in constant contact with people who are going through great difficulties and cannot take care of themselves. This is not always easy, so it is essential that you have a strong motive and a clear reason why you are doing it. Enjoying helping others is exactly the drive you need here. If you have it, it’s the first sign that a nursing career might make sense for you.
2. Are you ready to fit into inflexible working hours?
We all know that a nursing job does not exactly include 9 to 5 working hours. It is necessary to be open to inflexible working hours, night shifts and a lot of overtime work, depending on your position and the institution in which you work. For some, this is not a problem, because they are aware from the very beginning of what this job brings and that they will not be able to expect flexible or fixed working hours. For others, this can be a big deal breaker, because they are not ready to dedicate their lives to work to that extent. Decide which group you belong to and whether you think that night shifts will be a big no for you or whether you find it is all worth the pain, because you will fulfill your purpose and enjoy the benefits that this job brings you to the maximum.
3. Can you cope with physical work
Although the job of a nurse relies heavily on their knowledge, this does not mean that it also does not carry a lot of physical work. As a nurse you will have to move the beds, help the patients to get up and move and generally carry some very heavy things. This career is physically demanding and requires constant movement and physical activity. If these conditions are too demanding for you and you think that all this would be too much for you, maybe you should reconsider your ideas. Of course, you are not alone in this, because you work with a large number of colleagues every day and there is always significant teamwork involved. However, you will be mostly doomed to yourself and your ability to cope with stressful situations, so this is something to keep in mind if you are considering starting a nursing career.
Are you looking for a nursing job at the moment? We suggest you check out the open positions in Saint Elizabeth HC and apply for the one that is the best fit.
4. Do you know how to handle stressful situations
Another important aspect of a nursing job is the stressful situations you have to learn to deal with. To be completely honest, no job is stress-free. But nursing work is specific in this regard, because it requires dealing with huge stress in different ways on a daily basis. You will meet very sick and helpless people, you will have to deal with the angry and frustrated reactions of patients, violence, and ultimately, with death.
All this is very difficult, but if you know how to handle stressful situations then this will not be too much for you. However, in case you are highly emotional and are deeply disturbed by such circumstances, it is necessary to reconsider your motives. While the job of nurses is humane, it is also stressful. Put all the factors on the scales and decide what will prevail and what will be your final decision.
Conclusion
Choosing the right career is not an easy task, no matter what kind of career you are considering. There are so many things to think through in order to come up with the best decision. When it comes to a nursing career it is vital to ask yourself the right questions before you decide to apply for a job. For starters, ask yourself how important it is for you to help people. Think about whether you can fit in night shifts and long working hours, as well as whether you are ready for a lot of physical effort and stressful situations.
After answering these questions honestly, you can clearly conclude whether you want to give up on this idea or you still find the nursing job to be your calling. If you decide to pursue nursing as a career and want to learn about earning your degree online, visit https://academicpartnerships.uta.edu/programs/nursing.aspx.
