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!