Nursing as a Career
Careers in the Healthcare industry are among the fastest-growing occupations, with the current nursing shortage ensuring that job prospects are very good. If you choose nursing as a career, you will have the choice of many areas in which to work. Initially you need to be interested in caring for others and have good people skills, then armed with your high school diploma you can go on to take a training course for qualification as an LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse) or RN (Registered Nurse). Courses are available in various facilities, or indeed you can study online.
General hospital nurses will work in all areas of the hospital, generally on a rotation basis, until such a time as they, or the hospital, decide they are better suited to one particular area. For instance the hospital may suggest that a nurse is exceptionally good in the ER, and would be of special benefit to the hospital if he or she remained there. On the other hand the nurse themselves may feel more comfortable working in one particular specialist department and apply to stay there permanently. Another alternative to a hospital is a hospice, which involves caring for terminally ill patients.
Reference: Nursing AssistantPrivate duty nurses are assigned to a particular patient, either in hospital or at home; their duties involving the personal care of their patient, as well as acting as liaison between surgeons or physicians and the patient and their family. They will treat and medicate their patient according to physicians orders, and report back to him as necessary, while at the same time informing both patients and their family on self medication when necessary and general health care and diet. An alternative to private duty nurse would be home care nurse, who instead of dealing exclusively with one patient, may be required to visit several patients in the course of a week.
OR nurses (Operating Room) have to be familiar with all the equipment in the OR, as well as the different procedures, the equipment and tools necessary for each. They will have all the equipment necessary for the surgery ready and at hand, so as to be able to hand them to the surgeon as required. They also act as mediator between surgeons, physicians and the various departments of the hospital.
An ER nurse (Emergency Room) will find themselves performing all kinds of tasks, from triage to dressing wounds, to assisting doctors with major cases like accident victims or gunshot wounds, giving initial care and making them stable enough for moving to the OR if necessary. This department often calls for snap decisions and quick thinking on behalf of the nurses as well as doctors. To do this job, nurses need to be able to keep a cool head in stressful situations, as a wrong decision could mean the difference between life and death.
Whichever specialty you arrive at, having chosen nursing as a career you will find yourself in a job which is at times taxing and tiring, but always extremely rewarding; both personally and financially.
Source : Certified Nursing Assistant
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