As Seen On TV: Not So Much
Have you ever watched Grey’s Anatomy or any of the old Er reruns? The nurses are pretty much pushed into the back ground and the doctors do all the work. This is a total misrepresentation of what nurses actually do. When a patient is admitted to the hospital nurses provide the primary care and the doctors visit the patient for a few minutes daily. The nurses call the physicians for orders but they facilitate most of the care.
Nurses insert foley catheters and feeding tubes, they do dressing changes and monitor critically ill patients. Nursing today isn’t like it was fifty years ago. Nurses don’t wear white dresses and caps (maybe on graduation day) they wear scrubs and lab coats. They start IVs and other simple procedures.
There are so many different types of nursing jobs available. You could care for preemies or the elderly. You could be a home health nurse or work in the ER at a hospital. The advancement opportunities are out of this world. You could become a nursing director or a Nurse Practitioner.NPs work with doctors, performing many functions of a physician. They see patients in an office setting and in hospital settings. They can also write prescriptions. While this type of nursing requires an advanced degree, you only need your Associates degree to become a certified nurse.
Do you think you could handle the heat? Search for nursing programs now!
Want to be a Nurse?
The other day I talked about the great job opportunities for CNAs (Certified Nursing Assistance). What I didn’t mention was that almost all nursing programs require their students to become CNAs first. This is where many nursing students get their first clinical experiences in hospital settings.
If you’re kicking around the idea of becoming a nurse becoming a CNA first is a great start. It’s usually one class and sometime spent in a clinical setting. A clinical setting is just hands-on experience taking care of patients. This is a really great place to start and will allow you to see if you’re really cut out for the nursing profession. It’s mostly guts and not so much glory but it can be highly rewarding for the right person.
There are several schools that offer CNA courses and many community colleges offer the programs also. You can do a quick search on this website to find CNA programs in your area. Visit our Find Schools page to begin your search now.
Too Cool For School?
Did you know that according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics that technical jobs will have an average growth of 50% by 2016? It makes blue collar look pretty good considering some guy with his MBA was ringing up my groceries today. One of the biggest jumps will be in home health and personal care aides.
The baby-boomers are aging and many of them need full or part-time care. Nursing homes are busting at the seems and agencies are scrambling to find qualified CNA (certified nursing assistant) to fill the positions. This is a really great way for people to give back to the community by caring for the disabled and elderly. It also pays pretty well too. The average salary for a home health aide is around $14 an hour with a high of almost $20 an hour depending on where you work.
It only takes one semester or less of training to get certified to become a CNA. CNAs work in nursing homes, hospitals, home health agencies, and even in private homes as personal aides.
If you’re compassionate and have a knack for caring for others then this could be a great place to start. Check back tomorrow for more info on becoming a CNA.