Have you ever wondered about making a difference? As a teenager, I remember I wanted to make a difference but I had no idea how to find my place in the world. My mother planted the seed in my mind, and told me nursing would be a good way to make a difference, learn skills, and gain a career along the way. Talk about mama is always right!
Fast forward many years, many shifts, a bit of painful learning and life experiences, and I can tell you first hand, nursing is a definite way to make a difference. Not only in our community, but in our world, and our world needs nurses now more than ever before. As we all know, nurses are the heart of every hospital, every practice, every office, and every clinical facility.
For starters, a nurse is a professional. We don’t always think about it in this context, but a nurse passes the National Council Licensure Exam (NCLEX-RN). After passing this exam, a nurse is awarded a professional license. This license is a gift, an honor, and a privilege. This gift awards the nurse an opportunity to provide care to a variety of patients in multiple environments. A nurse gives medication to the sick and injured, the new and the old, or the young and the dying. A nurse integrates interventions for patients using evidenced-based practices while making critical decisions.
So, what type of job can a nurse obtain? A nurse can work just about anywhere, any day, any time, holidays, weekends, or whenever he or she desires. Some of the locations are listed below:
Hospitals, home health, hospice, health departments, insurance companies, long-term and extended care, physician offices, mental health facilities, corrections, dialysis,school camps, colleges, cruise ships, administration, skilled units travel nursing, and the list goes on and on. And with this, a nurse can work in any area of nursing. Some of these areas include emergency rooms, intensive care units, labor & delivery, medical-surgical nursing, newborn nursery, oncology, orthopedics, post-anesthesia care units, post-partum, psychiatric nursing, progressive care units, surgical units, and telemetry, and there are so many more.
Oh, did you know? Men are needed in nursing more than ever before!
Where is your place in the world? Do you want to make a difference? Call me and let me help you get on a path to find your place in the nursing profession.
Wiregrass Georgia Technical College 