Background information
Many misconceptions surround the nursing career. The myths surrounding nursing profession are so great that they dissuade people from pursuing this career. However, unlike what many people believe, nursing is the noblest career in the face of the world, without which many lives would be put to stake. Nevertheless, nursing is a complex career that eludes a clear understanding of many. Nurses deal with lives of people directly by taking care of the sick to ensure that they recover their health and given the different and moving encounters they have, nurses need to deliver care with passion to help patients to recover faster. In the next ten years, employment in the nursing sector will increase by over 20 percent and being a registered nurse is all I want despite the complexities associated with nursing because I am passionate about humanity.
Nature of nursing work
Registered nurses (RNs) comprise the biggest healthcare profession, accounting for 2.6 million job placements. The U.S. Department of Labor reports that, hospitals employ about 60 percent of RNs (1).
The roles of RNs involve treating patients, educating patients and the public on different clinical conditions, and giving advice and emotional assistance to family members of the patient. Furthermore, RNs perform a range of tasks including keeping records of patients’ medical symptoms and histories, performing diagnosis, and interpreting the results, operating clinical machinery, administering therapies, and assisting in follow-ups and rehabilitation of patient (U.S. Department of Labor 1). Obviously, an individual requires passion for humanity to perform the responsibilities. This range of activities is sufficient to pass nursing as a philanthropic profession. Thus, I view myself as a promoter of humanity, a role that I am proud of and happy about.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, RNs “instruct patients and their family members on ways of managing adverse health events, explaining post-treatment home care necessities; nutrition, diet, and exercise plans; and self-administration of therapy” (1). In addition, some RNs may engage in educating the public on indicative signs and symptoms of illness. Further, they may operate basic health screening or immunization clinics, blood campaigns, and public seminars.
Regarding patient care, RNs typically develop a care program or modify an existing one. This plan covers a range of activities, including administering drugs, cautious scrutiny of dosages and circumventing interactions; commencing, sustaining, and terminating any form of intravenous (IV) lines; administering treatments and therapies; observing patient and documenting the observations; and consulting with doctors and other healthcare personnel.
Like any other career, nursing can have various specialties. Four major factors determine these RNs nursing options as the work milieu or therapy type, for example, perioperative nurses; health condition, for instance, diabetes management nurses; organ or body systems, for example, dermatology nurses; specified population, for instance, pediatric oncology nurses (U.S. Department of Labor 1). Apparently, the opportunities for specialization in RNs are wide and often defined on the job.
The future nursing
Employment of registered nurses is projected to increase rapidly than the average growth in all professions and since the profession is extensive, 582, 500 new employments will result. In addition, hundred of thousands of employments opportunities will arise due to the need to substitute veteran nurses who leave the profession (U.S. Department of Labor 4). Apparently, the future of nursing career is promising.
The U.S Department of Labor puts the projected growth of job opportunities in nursing sector by 2018 at 22 percent, a comparatively higher percentage than the total occupation rate. Technological sophistication in patient care and increasing focus on preventive care will be the impetus for growth (U.S. Department of Labor 4). In addition, a projected increase in the number of more susceptible older people relative to younger people, increased care demand and account for the projected increase in RNs jobs.
Nevertheless, RNs jobs will not expand uniformly in all sectors. The predicted growth will take the pattern displayed in the table below:
Source: U.S. Department of Labor
General employment opportunities are predicted to be excellent for RNs. Employers in specific parts of the U.S. and in specific employment milieu, encounter problems with attracting and retaining sufficient numbers of RNs, prominently due to aging RNs personnel and a lack of younger employees to take up their positions.
Conclusion
Nursing is a complex profession that involves interplay of a wide range of factors that readers need to understand. Being a noble profession as it deals with sustaining human live, I, just like any person desiring to promote humanity, consider nursing a lifetime opportunity to exercise my philanthropy. I want to be the best nurse of all the time, because saving that one life means everything to me. Fortunately, in the next ten years, the employment is set to increase by over 20 percent and that serves only to brighten the prospects of attaining my objective, being the best nurse of all the time.
Works cited
United States Department of Labour. Registered nurses. Washington DC: Bureau of Labour Statistics, 2009. 1-6. Print.