Choosing Nursing as a Profession:

What is nursing?

According to the American Nurses Association, the definition of nursing is the diagnosis and treatment of human responses to actual and potential health problems.

What do nurses do?

Nursing care is essentially delivered through a five-step process:

· Assessment--collecting and analyzing physical, psychological, and sociocultural information about a client
·Diagnosis--identifying the patient’s actual or potential health conditions

· Planning--creating a care plan which addresses specific treatment goals

· Implementation--carrying out or supervising the care plan

· Evaluation--continuing the assessment of the plan

What are the different ways I can become a Registered Nurse (RN)?

Bachelors of Science in Nursing (BSN)--a four-year program offered at colleges and universities. A BSN is required for entry into a master’s degree in nursing program. You can also enter nursing with an associate degree or a diploma.

Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN)--a two-year program offered at community and junior colleges.

Hospital Diploma--a two-to three-year program based in a hospital setting.

With such a high demand for BSN-prepared nurses, those with ADNs and diplomas are encouraged to continue their education through RN to BSN programs.

What can I do with a nursing degree?

You can work in various settings with a variety of clients.

Examples include:
· Hospital nursing (e.g., intensive care unit, pediatrics, emergency/flight, labor and delivery, psychiatry/mental health, oncology, ambulatory care, surgical, neurology)

· Office/Clinic nursing

· Community/Public health nursing (government, private agencies, schools)

· Occupational/Industrial nursing

· Home health nursing

· Long-term care facility nursing

· Nursing supervisor/manager

· Hospice nursing

Are there leadership opportunities in nursing?

There are many opportunities to excel as you progress through your nursing education.
· Sigma Theta Tau, Nursing’s national honor society

· National Student Nurses Association (NSNA)

As a professional nurse, you can participate in:
· Sigma Theta Tau

· American Nurses Association

· Your specialty group’s association (e.g., American Association of Critical-Care Nurses)

Other examples of leadership roles in nursing include serving as a mentor, working as a nurse supervisor, promoting the use of research at your facility, and educating your clients and colleagues. No matter where you are or what you choose to do with nursing, your leadership skills can be developed and utilized.

What opportunities are available to further my nursing education?

Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degrees are for BSN-prepared nurses intending to pursue further studies. MSN programs vary from 12-18 months of full-time study. Entrance requirements generally include graduation from an accredited baccalaureate program in nursing, the attainment of a minimum grade-point average of 3.0, completion of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), and a license to practice nursing.

Doctoral degrees for nursing include the doctor of philosophy in nursing (PhD), nursing doctorate (ND or DN), and doctor of science in nursing (DSN). The overall goals of doctoral education are to broaden nursing’s scientific knowledge base through research and other scholarly activities and to prepare nurses to serve in a capacity of leadership roles.

A minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.5 on a 4.0 scale is necessary to apply. Admission into the College of Nursing, however, is quite competitive. On average, 100-200 applications are received each semester by the College of Nursing, while approximately 75 are admitted.

What does the job market look like for the nursing profession?

The job outlook is promising. There are currently more job opportunities than there are nurses to fill their positions. This shortage allows nurses to be more selective in choosing their practice settings. In 1996, 1,971,000 RNs were employed in the United States. By the year 2006 a 21% increase (2,382,000) in jobs for RNs is predicted. 72% of BSN students and 94% of MSN students had awaiting jobs prior to the completion of their degrees. The unemployment rate for RNs is less than 2%.

What more can I learn about nursing on the World Wide Web?

The American Nurses Association provides information about nursing practice and political and legislative news. Check out http://www.nursingworld.org/.

The http://www.movingnetwork.com website is useful to look at if you anticipate moving to a different area. You can compare salaries, calculate moving costs, and create timelines for relocation.

A good nursing career website is http://www.nursingspectrum.com.

A search engine specific to nursing is http://www.nursingwebsearch.com.

A source of information for nursing students is the National Student Nurses Association at http://www.nsna.org.

Other websites of interest include:

The following web site provides links to national, international, and state nurses associations and to nursing specialty organizations. http://www.nursingmanagement.com

Informatics is a field of study related to a standard nursing language about nursing diagnoses, interventions, and outcomes. For information about this specialty, check out these websites: http://information.aboutnursing.net/informatics/ and http://www.ania.org/index.htm.

Where can I find Internet career resources?

A nursing career portal can be used at http://www.nursingspectrum.com. A general career portal can be found at http://www.dbm.com/jobguide or http://www.toa-services.net.

Job search web sites include http://www.ajb.dni.us and http://www.careerpath.com.

Self-assessment resources include:

http://web.missouri.edu/~cppcwww/holland.shtml. This site contains a survey, however, a fee is required in order to receive results.

http://icpac.indiana.edu/infoseries/is-50pl.html At this site, you can get results to a career interest survey for free.