Updated November 10, 2022
A Nurse is a healthcare professional who serves the people needing medical assistance. A person who has a great desire to bring together his passion for helping people, pursuing career as nurse is the best way.
Becoming a nurse is not about helping people but also about making way for a career with strong job growth, earnings potential, and security. The nursing field provides the candidates with over a hundred areas of specialization. Nursing offers the candidates career flexibility that allows them to choose the path that suits them the best.
Aspiring candidates can pick the type of patients they want to care for, the working environment they are interested in, and how far they want to specialize within the profession.
What is Nursing?
Nursing is a career in the health care sector that focuses on providing care to individuals, family members and communities to achieve the goal of maintaining or recovering the highest quality of health and life. It is an ever-changing highly specialized field.
Talking about the same, nursing’s unique role extends from the actions that aid in the recovery, health, or the dignified demise of a patient, to the creation of policies, research, advocacy and education. Nurses can be distinguished in comparison to other health professionals by their approach of providing care to patients, training, and range of practice.
Moreover, they can work in various areas with varying levels of prescribing authority and constituting the biggest part of the healthcare system. Nurses design a plan for care in conjunction with doctors, therapists, the patient’s family, and the other team members who focus on treating illness and improving the quality of life.
Career as Nurse: Roles
There is no specific answer for this question because of the wide range of specializations, care settings, expertise, and biological and behavioural needs of the patient. Different types of nurses may have different responsibilities. Their Job roles can range from promoting preventative health care strategies in schools to acute treatment decisions in an intensive care unit.
The principal characteristic that unifies each nursing job is that nurses utilize their expertise and judgment to give the highest quality treatment and positively impact the outcomes of patients. Nurses should be smart, capable of critical thinking, and adaptable to any circumstance. Below listed are some of the general nursing tasks. So just check out below to know what exactly Nurses do.
- Conduct diagnostic tests
- Administer medical equipment
- Apply treatments and medications
- Provide support and guidance to patients
- Record symptoms and the medical history
- Promote the health and well-being of patients
- Teaching patients on the management of ailments
- Work with teams to develop plans for the care of patients
- Keep track of the patient’s health and take note of the symptoms
Where Do Nurses Work?
Hospital is not the only setting area for nurses. Different employment industries like public schools, doctor’s offices, pharmacies, clinics, private homes, hospice care, government jobs, etc., are open for them. Throughout the patient experience, you can find out that nurses apply their knowledge and skill whenever and wherever patients need help. Listed below are some of the most common places where nurses work.
- Clinics
- Hospitals
- Offices of Physicians
- Correctional Facilities
- Ambulatory Surgical Centres
- Federal and State Governments
- Schools – State, Local, and Private
- Nursing and Residential Care Facilities
Eligibility to Make Career as Nurse?
Candidates aspiring to a career as nurse must fulfil certain eligibility criteria. The minimum qualifications required to become a nurse depend on the nursing role one is aspiring for. However, there are a few pivotal requirements for a career as nurse regardless of what type of nurse one wants to be. Below mentioned are the minimum eligibility criteria each nursing institute accepts.
- Candidates must have completed 12th in science stream with PCB (Physics, Chemistry and Biology) as main subjects. And, for diploma candidates, completing 12th with any subject combination is acceptable.
- Minimum aggregate of 45% marks in 12th class examination is must. It may vary from institution to institution and the relaxation rule also apply according to the caste category.
- For admission into diploma nursing course like Auxiliary nurse midwife, General Nursing and Midwifery, etc, candidates who have completed 10th with minimum aggregate of 50% can also apply for.
- For admission into undergraduate, diploma, postgraduate and PhD courses, a valid passing certificate of nursing entrance exam is compulsory.
- Candidates must have register themselves with any state nursing council before getting employed.
Types of Nurses
Nursing encompasses a wide range of specialization, and it can leave new and seasoned nurses wondering which specialty is right for them. Considering this particular complication of the nursing aspirant, we have compiled a list of the different nursing Job profile to help them.
- Nurse Educator
- Nurse Practitioner
- Nurse Case Manager
- Registered Nurse (RN)
- Clinical Nurse Specialist
- Clinical Nurse Supervisor
- Labour and Delivery Nurse
- Oncology Registered Nurse
- Critical Care Registered Nurse
- Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA)
- Surgical Assistant Registered Nurse
- Emergency Room Registered Nurse
- Health Informatics Nurse Specialist
- Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN)
- Licensed Practical and Vocational Nurse (LPN and LVN)
Types of Nursing course
Nursing encompasses various courses for the aspirants to pursue but mainly categorized into three segments mentioned below.
Certificate nursing Courses:- Certificate Nursing courses are 6 to 12 months long program offered at both Undergraduate and Post-graduate levels.
Degree Nursing Courses:- Degree Nursing courses are 2 to 4 years long program offers at both Undergraduate and Post Graduate level
Diploma Nursing Courses:- Diploma Nursing Courses are 1 to 3.5 years long program delivered at both Undergraduate and Post-graduate levels. It also includes degree courses.
Some of the top specializations in Nursing from all three segments are mentioned below.
- BSc Nursing
- BSc (Hons.) Nursing
- Post Basic BSc Nursing
- Diploma in Neuro Nursing
- MSc in Psychiatric Nursing
- Diploma in Health Assistant (DHA)
- Post Graduate Diploma in Neo -Natal Nursing
- Post Graduate Diploma in Emergency Nursing
- MSc in Obstetrics and Gynecological Nursing
- Certificate in Care Waste Management (CHCWM)
- Certificate in Primary Nursing Management (CPNM)
- Certificate in Maternal and Child Health Care (CMCHC)
Particular Specialization in Nursing
After completing any of these Nursing courses, one can also opt for a particular specialization by going for a post-basic specialty course which is a one-year diploma course. Below are some of the popular Nursing Specialization one can opt for after completing any nursing course.
- Neuro Nursing
- Neonatal Nursing
- Oncology Nursing
- Critical Care Nursing
- Practitioner in Midwifery
- Emergency and Disaster Nursing
- Operation room Nursing Orthopaedic and Rehabilitation Nursing
The Nurses Salary
The average salary of nurses may range from Rs. 2 to 10 lakh per annum. Initially, a nurse can expect an average annual package of 2.3 lakh, but gaining knowledge and polishing the skill set can increase the figure up to 10 lakh per annum.
Candidate’s job profile, recruiter, employment area, etc., are other major factors that create the difference in their salary package. For instance, a Nurse educator and Nurse supervisor may earn an average salary of 4 lakh per annum, while a Registered Nurse can earn up to 3 lakh per annum.
FAQs Related Career as Nurse
Ans- Nursing is a profession in the health care sector that is dedicated to providing care to individuals, family members, and communities to maintain the highest quality of health and life. It is the most evolving, highly specialized field.
Ans- Pursuing a career in Nursing can be quite rewarding regarding good career opportunities, huge scope for advancement, stability, and compensation. However, it also has some drawbacks because working as a nurse can be both physically and mentally draining.
Ans- According to a report released by a renowned organization, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs for nurses are expected to increase by 12 per cent between 2018 and 2028. The hike is much higher than average.