A Career in Nursing Can be Extremely Rewarding yet Challenging

For those who are into nursing and love the thought of taking care of the sick and infirm, a career in nursing can be the most rewarding thing in life. Although nurses do not hold the same place as doctors in society, nursing is indeed a very respected and dignified profession, but also a thankless one where only doctors are regarded as 'Gods' in any society.

It is true; doctors are qualified to carry out diagnoses and prescribe medications and treatments to a patient and, when required, perform life saving operations. But in all these instances you can see the nurse standing beside him, helping him, reminding him and generally assisting in every possible way to make things easier for the doctor. Once the doctor examines the patient and moves away, it's the nurse who takes over to do whatever needs to be done; they make sure the patient follows the instructions given by the doctor.

Student nurses, the same as doctors, have to go through years of training before they can be regarded as qualified nurses. In the nursing school, everything is taught from scratch commencing with personal hygiene right through the whole gamut of child birth, pediatrics, surgical wards, care of the elderly and intensive care. Then they get to train in a real hospital to obtain hands on experience after which they are free to apply to a hospital of their choice or go into a different field such as a Doctor's clinic, or as a traveling nurse which is considered a glamour job by most young nurses, but looked down by traditional nurses.

A career in nursing can also involve specializing in certain areas such as care of the elderly, renal therapy, surgical nursing and many others which would come very useful to a nurse when she wants to go forward in her career. Such specialized nurses are often required for caring for the sick in private homes or doctor's clinics which could prove to be very lucrative for the nurse concerned.

Someone who is really interested in a career in nursing should also have the characteristics of a good nurse and a correct attitude towards the patient. Not being a normally boring 9 to 5 job, nurses have to be very active round the clock and be outgoing and friendly with the patients as well as with the rest of the staff whom they comes into contact daily. A good quality for a nurse to have is patience which is abundantly needed when she has to deal with difficult patients who can be at times boisterous, arrogant, or annoying as the case may be. Dealing with such patients with a cheery smile is not always easy under the circumstances, but, that is what nursing is all about and a nurse always has to put her personal problems behind her when she walks into the ward.

Respected and dignified they may be, but a career in nursing does have its downsides to it. Relating to sick people 24/7 is not easy. A patient's problem sometimes becomes the nurse's problem and she has to deal with it very cautiously while making sure she does not get emotionally involved. Another negative aspect is the possibility of catching a virulent bug from a patient that could even be life threatening. A nurse also has to work the night shift very often and this can affect her health. There are many times when nurses do not get the proper respect from other doctors, some of which can be very rude and talk down to a nurse.

All in all, a career in nursing is definitely not for the weak at heart and also not for someone who gets too emotionally involved with the patients. A nurse must always put a brake on her feelings if she is to act professionally. While a career in nursing can be truly satisfying and extremely rewarding, it comes with a bag load of challenges that has to be met and conquered.