How to Become a Registered Nurse?

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What a nurse does is work with other healthcare professionals to provide healthcare to those that need it. Their jobs are truly demanding yet extremely rewarding and it take someone with great compassion to excel in the field.

Becoming a Registered Nurse

A nurse deal with doctors, patients and team members to ensure patients get quality healthcare. Some of the duties are:

•Record a patient’s medical history
•Find out what symptoms exist
•Coordinate patient care
•Administer medicines and medical treatment
•Set up plans for care or contribute to plans already in place
•Observe patients and record their observations
•Consult with doctors and other healthcare professionals
•Operate and monitor medical equipment
•Help perform diagnostic tests and analyze the results
•Educate patients and their families on how to manage medical conditions and injuries
•Provide advice and emotional support to patients and their family members
•Educate the public on various health conditions and explain at home after care

A nurse will do a lot of walking, bending, stretching, standing and lifting. They are frequently exposed to infectious diseases, radiations and harmful and hazardous substances and situations. They work nights, weekends and holidays and often work rotating shifts, which may be as long as 12 hours. They might also be on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Along with their nursing degrees, they might also chose to specialize in a certain area such as addiction, cardiovascular, critical care, trauma, genetics, neonatal, nephrology, oncology, rehabilitation and critical care. In order to work in a specialized area of nursing there will be additional education and training involved and dual licensure can be obtained.

There are many different places that a nurse can work such as hospitals, nursing homes, residential care facility, doctor’s offices, home health care, correctional facility and other government agencies.

Answers on How to Become a Registered Nurse

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are different paths and levels of education on how to become a registered nurse. The school must be accredited by the National Council of State Boards in Nursing and be recognized and approved by the National Council Licensure Examination in Nursing.

As long as they are recognized, a potential student can attend any vocational college, community college or university to obtain a diploma, associate’s degree or bachelor’s degree in nursing. Then, they will need to take the state boards and the NCLEX-RN examination in order to become licensed.

The job outlook is expected to grow 19% from 2012 to 2022 with the median salary being around $65,000 per year and as high as $94,000 per year for those in the higher percentile.

Some of the skills needed are critical thinking, problem solving, computer, compassion, detail oriented, mental stability, organization, and physical stamina and communication skills.

Some of the courses that a student will take are:

•Anatomy
•Physiology
•Chemistry
•Nutrition
•Microbiology
•Ethics
•Medical terminology
•Algebra
•Business and medical law

There will be a mix between classes, laboratory and clinical practice, which will help in learning how to deal with different types of personalities and dealing with people in different situations.