It was once seen as a job that offered little more than cleaning floors and changing beds, which you worked your way into via cleaning hospital wards. In 2022, however, nursing is now one of the most sophisticated medical qualifications that you can undertake, and as you can guess after 2020, it is in very high demand.
There are many advantages to training as a nurse. If you have always been someone who loves working with people, and has a penchant for medicine and care, then this is undoubtedly one of the benefits of training in this area. Then, there is also the respect that you will receive from your colleagues and other members of your community. Nurses are regarded (and are) as exceptionally skilled professionals, whose observations and conclusions relating to patient care have saved millions of lives the world over.
Still unsure if nursing is for you? Read on to learn a bit more about why you should consider undertaking this job in 2022.
It Can Be Fast
So, you will have heard that working as a nurse is a fast-paced career, where no 2 days are the same. This is true, yet many people are deterred by the lengthy training that often accompanies studying to become a nurse.
There are reasons for the longer training; your competency must be tested, and you have to show that you can learn and work in clinical practice at the same time. In 2022, however, you can now apply for an accelerated bachelor of science in nursing degree, which compresses the typical 3-4 years in 15 months while on clinical placement. These kinds of courses are challenging, and you will need to be dedicated and tough as nails to pass them. However, you will still have the support of other nurses and professionals who will help you to learn and get all the required credits that you need to do so.
It is Always in Demand
If there is one job that is in demand at present the world over, it’s nursing and other medical areas. After the pandemic of 2020, it has been highlighted more than ever how desperately nurses are needed to help maintain wards and to keep the medical field afloat. Registered nurses are so in demand that in the last 2 years, many of those that had retired have re-entered the workplace to try to help their nurse colleagues to cope.
It is an area of healthcare that is expected to grow by between 24-26% in the next 3 years, and even more after 2025, meaning that even if you opt for a more standard nursing course, when you graduate, you will still be guaranteed a job.
If nursing on the front lines is not your forte, then you can train to be a nurse practitioner after you complete your degree, which is another skillset that is high in demand and will usually have you working from a doctor’s office or community setting.
Variation
As mentioned briefly earlier, when it comes to being a nurse, it is never dull. No 2 days are ever the same and you will be tasked with different roles and the care of different patients every single day.
Whether you are in a hospital or a doctor’s surgery, you will be on your feet a lot, and you will be interacting with people of all ages, who will have complex health issues that need to be treated. Also, it is worth noting that there are many different areas within nursing that you can specialise in. If you have always wanted to work in elderly care, you will likely be working in an elderly care home, but don’t let the title fool you – that’s a tough job. Or, perhaps you have always wanted to help those with mental health issues, in which case, you could choose to work as a psychiatric nurse, which is a varied job and will certainly test your leadership and decision-making skills.
Challenge
It sounds odd to consider becoming a nurse to be challenged, but nurses are smart cookies and thrive best when they are asked to figure things out and are challenged academically. There are always new problems that will arrive when you are on a shift in nursing, and you will need to know how to manage your time, how to prioritise tasks, and how to ensure that all the patients under your care get the level of care that they deserve.
If you also like learning on the job, then this is the role for you. Nurses usually learn something new every day that they are working, and if that’s not enough, you can even undertake additional nursing training courses to top up your skillset. This can help you to work in a different area of nursing if you wish to or can be used to enhance your current practice. It’s entirely up to you.
Make a Difference
Yes, it is cliched but when you train as a nurse, whether you work in psychiatric care or paediatrics, you will always be making a difference in people’s lives.
Also Read: How to Know Which Medical Career is Right for You
As mentioned earlier, the observation and diagnostic skills of nurses have saved millions of lives around the world. And, as if that wasn’t enough, nurses are skilled in empathising with their patients, answering their questions, and putting their patients’ needs first. It has also been shown that the better the level of care and interaction between a nurse and their patients, the better the patient’s outcome is. So, by walking onto a ward, being observant, and talking to your patients, you will be improving their outcomes.
Conclusion
Nursing is a growing profession that helps lives, changes the outcome for patients, and ensures that professional standards of care are met. If you have ever wanted to become a nurse, 2022 is the time to, and whether the course you choose to undertake is accelerated or not, you will leave it with the job opportunities lining up.
