Career Advice | Becoming a Registered Nurse
What you need to know before you decide The registered nurse (RN) is a highly desired profession for interested nursing students. What should you expect when you become a registered nurse?
- Responsibility:
Registered nurses are highly regarded professionals in the health care industry. They are mainly responsible for supervising and managing the care of patients. Many uncertified nurses look to the RN as a mentor in their practice. The registered nurse has a lot of weight on his or her shoulders in the patient's eyes as well as their peer's eyes.
- Type of work:
RNs may handle a variety of job related tasks associated with managing a patient's care such as administering medications and fluids, giving injections and monitoring critical levels. An RN can be found at hospitals, schools, doctors' offices, private practices, public health clinics and several other health care related organizations.
- Specialization:
Registered nurses most often have a specialty that they studied in a nursing program. These specialties can range from surgical recovery to pediatrics. These specialties differ from each other in many ways, yet the underlying education is always relevant.
- Flexibility:
As a registered nurse, many options become available for your professional growth. You can enhance your career by focusing on more than one specialty area with a dual career path option. In a hospital environment, you will encounter the opportunity to have hands-on experience with many specialties, both clinical and non-clinical. This career path is flexible to your needs with the many scheduling options. You can work full-time or part-time, which is very attractive to working mothers. Flexible hours means spending more time with your children and family working around their schedule.
- Strong Educational Background:
A registered nurse must have an educational history with some college preparatory materials that emphasize math and a science. Most RNs either have an associate's degree or their bachelor's degree. Some colleges offer nursing programs that will help in interviewing for future positions. Usually these programs last for two years and also provide a link to practices within hospitals. Inova offers a tuition assistance program for both full-time and part-time students with a scholarship program that supports their senior year in a nursing school. There are also accelerated degree programs that can help you earn your BSN in about 12 months if you already have a bachelor's degree in another area.
- A Great Professional Future:
RNs have more opportunities open to them than uncertified nurses. As you can tell from the list above, great opportunities abound for the RN with the qualifying background and the on-the-job experience. A strong professional future is always a strong draw for any position. A career as a RN offers financial stability.A future as a registered nurse is a prosperous one in the wealth of information you will gain from your experiences. The RN is always that one we look up to!
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