Nursing has been trending as one of the most popular fields to get into when it comes to the medical industry. For many, this can be a very exciting career choice and there are a huge variety of nursing programs to choose from. One thing to be aware of is that the competition is high when applying to these programs
Having attended classes in basic life support and first aid can help you tremendously when applying.
If you do decide to become a nursing assistant first, you have to get certified with a Certified Nurses Assistant Certificate. This is a short training course that takes approximately 6 to 12 weeks. You will learn the basics of patient care. This will be things like drawing blood, taking vitals and even, learning how to deal with patients and developing your bedside manner.
If you want to continue your education, the next step would be an LPN which is a licensed practical nurse. It usually takes about 12 months if you are attending a community college or other type of school.
The most logical step for most LPN’s is to become a registered nurse or RN. There are two different kinds of nursing programs for those wishing to continue their education. You could go for a bachelor of science degree which is what most nurses decide to do. Some people may just decide to get an associates degree which takes about half the time that a bachelor of science degree takes, but results in more limited job choices.
Although less common, some people take the old route of going to college. The problem with this is that you will end up going to school much longer, which would end up costing you more money.
When you get a bachelors of science degree in nursing, there are many opportunities that become available such as, a nurse practitioner or a specialized fields such as anesthesiology.
If you’ve already gone to college but decide to switch careers and go into nursing, the prerequisites will be different than those who just graduated high school and the time it takes to get your degree will be shorter.
These pre-requisites consist of:
- a bachelors degree in another field
- a particular minimum GPA score-depends on the school
- certain relevant courses which could include biology, anatomy, psychology or other courses depending on the school.
Be sure that you apply to several different schools and don’t get hooked on a particular school. You will need to keep your options open.
You also need to be aware that nursing is a very challenging course. There is a lot of hard work and time involved.
When you decide on a career in nursing, you can be pretty much assured of being able to get a job as nurses are in high demand and will continue to be so in the future.