What can you do with a career in Nursing?

Now a days every person needs healthcare facilities, and with a rising elderly population and shrinking nursing workforce, it’s easy to see why nursing is over and over againmentioned to as a “recession proof” career.

It takes a whole team of experts to incline to the nation’s health care needs, and nurses are the linchpin that keeps the health care system running. It is also considered as an emotionally satisfying and personally fulfilling career, with outstanding job prospects and a wide variety of areas to specialize in.

Industry forecast

The nursing industry is shifting at a quick rate. With shifting technology, an elderly patient population and new challenges carried on by integrated legislation, the nursing industry is being forced to evolve to guarantee that hospitals and other organizations are capable to continue to provide the best possible care. The comprehensive job outlook for nurses looking ahead is a good one; employment for nurses is projected to grow faster than the average for all occupations over the next decade.

A variety of features are involved in this projected growth, including a rising senior citizen demographic (who will gradually rely on healthcare services in their older years), an augmented public emphasis on preventive care, and a rising rate of chronic conditions (including obesity and diabetes) that will lead to a wide array of healthcare needs.

Job prospects

There is still a great deal of requirement of skilled nurses in the field of Medicine. The world is far away from reaching its brink when we talk of capable and skilled nurses. The nursing field from medicine has also made its way to the corporate sector which further upsurges the necessity of skilled people in the stream. Talking only of India, we are far- far away from getting the adequate nurse-patient ratio.

There are numerous prospectsobtainable in the private as well as government sectors. A person from this occupation has the option of working with government or private hospitals, old homes, armed forces, orphanages, industries, Indian Red Cross Society, State Nursing Councils, Indian Nursing Council and so many other endless opportunities exist today.

Skills

A degree in nursing gives you a variety of specialized and technical skills, including the ability to work as part of a multidisciplinary team and to support and counsel patients and their families. You also grow the aptitude to measure, analyse, monitor and assess the care you deliver. There is no standard blueprint for a great nurse, but there are certain skills and characteristics that will help you succeed in the position.

• Effective Communication
• Flexibility
• Critical Thinking
• Desire to learn

Success tips:

Choosing a career in nursing is not to be taken lightly, nursing education is not the easiest prospectus and the work can be very difficult both physically and emotionally. To be a fruitful nurse, your heart must be in it. You really must love what you do.

• Join educational sessions and meetings to increase your understandingand keep your practice up to date.
• Subscribe to nursing journals in your field in order to remain well-informed about new changes and research in your practice setting.
• Be acomplex staff member. Join in meetings and join committees. Pitch in and help others on the unit. Report any possibility of dangerous situations before an accident happens. Make proposal to you manager on how things could be improved on the unit.
• Be safe. Know when to question for help or go up the chain of command.

• Excel at documentation. Be conscious of hospital policies and be sure that you are at least detailing what is minimally required of you.

Working conditions:

Most nurses work in well-lit, comfortable healthcare facilities. Home health and public health nurses travel to patients’ homes, schools, community centers, and other sites. Nurses may spend significant time walking and standing. May a time patients in hospitals and nursing care facilities necessitate 24-hour care; so, nurses in these institutions may work in nights, weekends, and holidays. Nurses also may be on call to work on short notice. Office, occupational health, and public health nurses are more likely to work in a regular business hours.

Nursing has its own risks, mainly in hospitals, nursing care facilities, and clinics, in all three of which nurses may care for patients with infectious diseases.Nurses must observe the guidelines to safeguard against disease and other hazards, such as those stood by radioactivity, accidental needle sticks, chemicals used to spay instruments, and anesthetics.

Eligibility

To do a course in Nursing a student needs to complete their Class XII Physics, Chemistry and Biology.The duration for a bachelor’s degree is usually three to four years. In order to take admission in a Master’s degree, the student needs to have a bachelor’s degree in Nursing. The duration for a Master’s degree is usually two years. For those who wish to go for a diploma course the minimum eligibility is Class 10th or equivalent. This may be a one year or two year course, liable upon the course.

Pay packages

Early on in the job one can start making a monthly salary of Rs.10,000 to Rs. 15,000 per month. Mid-level experts earn somewhere in between Rs.20,000 to Rs.30,000 per month. On gaining experience in this field one can expect somewhere around Rs.50,000 to Rs. 72,000 per month. Like any other field the salary of a professional in this profession also hang onfactors such as qualification, knowledge and reputation.

The author is Founder, Director of Council of Education & Development Programmes (CEDP) Skill Institute, Mumbai.

BY Shaheen Khan