Becoming a registered nurse is an involved, but highly rewarding career experience. Since nursing roles can expand far beyond the hospital, nursing programs have followed. Today, nursing exists in many forms. From hospital-based nursing to home nursing, community nursing and beyond, the career options available to formally trained RNs are vast.
Course work
Most registered nursing programs exist as four year Bachelor Degree programs. A nursing curriculum is built upon a foundation of biological, physical, and social sciences that contributes to the science of nursing, as well as a liberal arts component to help develop the intelligence, social, and cultural aspects of nursing.
The requirements for nursing school differ from one school to the next, but all have certain prerequisite classes that students are required to take. These include courses in:
- Anatomy & Physiology
- Social Sciences
- Biology
- English I & II
- Psychology
- Life Span Psychology
- Pharmaceuticals
- Chemistry
Most nursing schools require a grade of C or better for each of the above named courses. Each student must complete the Nursing Entrance Test prior to getting their name on the nursing school admission list. Consequently, the entire program can be expected to take up to three years to complete.
However, those who aspire to be nurses can first take training courses as Nurse Assistants while they work their way through nursing school. In many cases, employers set up an employee educational tuition fund to encourage employees to continue their education and obtain their nursing degree. Most nursing schools expect their students to complete the following types of courses:
- Introduction to Nursing
- Theoretical Foundations of Nursing
- Health Assessment
- Health and Disease Management
- Family Nursing Theory
- Statistical Applications
- Contemporary Issues and Health Policy
- Nursing Leadership and Management
Motivation
The nurses pay is also an incentive to enroll in Nursing School. Though it should not be the main reason, registered nurses generally earn almost double the annual salary of someone with only a high school diploma.
In addition to or rather than the pay, nursing students often complete their degrees out of the compassion to help people. Nursing is one of the best ways to get directly involved with people's lives and be able to practically help and assist them. Few other careers give as much job satisfaction as registered nurses. In fact a national survey conducted in 2006 found that registered nurses reported above average job satisfaction and overall happiness in their career.
Demographics
Today, there is a huge need for new students to enroll in nursing programs. Often times those who do enroll in nursing programs are between 32 and 52 years of age. With that, many of these students bring with them vast life experiences. Because of this, it is not surprising to find that many nurses have previous experience in anything from secretarial expertise, information technology and even business management experience. This adds a level of competitiveness, attentiveness, and seriousness that many other types of programs simply do not have.
This was not the norm twenty or thirty years ago. Back then, most nursing students were in their early twenties. Today, there are quite a few current nursing students that are holding full time jobs and juggling kids and financial obligations. With these obligations, many nursing students enter a new level of stress when the nursing school begins.
Online Schooling
For this reason, many nursing students consider an online college to complete their educational requirements on their own timelines. Online schools not only offer the full course work of a regular school, they provide additional advantages for nursing students.
Online college degrees come in a variety of packages designed for students and they are all done at home. No commuting is required to be able to attend classes. This allows the student to access coursework and study without losing the time involved with commuting to classes.
Online colleges also give far more options than traditional schools. Coursework and tests can be done at nearly any time of day, and communication with the teachers is as easy as sending an email.
Online colleges can cost as much as traditional degrees. However, without the additional living, social, and commuting costs, online colleges tend to lean towards the more inexpensive side of completing a degree. The cost of apartments, dorm rooms, living expenses, and a social life become expensive. With these costs cut, a fully accredited degree is far more reasonable for nursing students.
Students can work either a part time or full time job while attending online classes. In addition, a lot of surveys are attributing career related volunteer work as a primary stepping stone to a successful career after college. A student can manage working a part time job with a part time volunteer position and go to college with less stress.
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