If you’re thinking of changing career to be a nurse, there has never been a better time. Lockdown has left many of us re-evaluating our life choices and looking at how we spend our days.
With so much more time to learn new skills and think about what we really want from life, it has had more people than ever switching their jobs or looking into new career paths.
As you might know, I’m a bestselling author and happiness researcher.
I wrote a book called Happy Habits.
In my research, I learned that you can boost your happiness by finding a career which feels fulfilling. Plus you also gain happiness points by enjoying a career in which you’re helping others. Becoming a nurse can satisfy both of these things!
It is important to remember that it is never too late to change career and that the only thing stopping you, is you. If you have been thinking about changing your career to be a nurse, then what better time to do so than now?
Being a nurse is a fantastic job and is one of the most rewarding careers you will ever have. If you have always wanted to switch to this medical career path then there are a few things you need to think about. Here are some top tips on being a nurse.
As a nurse patience is one of the key aspects that you need. You will sometimes deal with tricky patients who maybe don’t want to take their medicine or do something and you will need patience to deal with this. It is likely you could get family members that are frustrating too and this could test your patience too.
Being a nurse is not the same as working in a shop or doing an office job where you can sneakily put in the bear minimum and get away with it. A nursing job is a career that you need to be committed to and be prepared to put your life and soul into. It is hard to care for people and do the job of a nurse if you aren’t properly committed.
You will have draining days and shifts where you feel both mentally and physically exhausted. You need to have the mental power to keep going and think of your patients.
As a nurse you never quite know what is around the corner and things can change rapidly at any moment. You need to be prepared that things can suddenly go wrong and be able to know what to do should this happen.
You need to be able to use your initiative and think quickly to avoid situations from escalating. Illnesses or conditions can also make patients not think as rationally as they might do normally and if they do something rash (such as try to get out of bed when they’re not meant to) or anything else you need to be able to sort the situation quickly.
One of the most important quality traits of a nurse is to be caring and kind. The people that you are dealing with are likely very sick and in times such as now when they can’t be visited by their family members as they normally would, you are the friendly face that they say.
Patients could be scared about what they are going through, feel lonely and be worrying about the future. You can be there to hold their hand, reassure them and let them know that you are there for them and to help. This can make a real difference to them and their life while they are in hospital.
When considering becoming a nurse, there are a host of benefits to you that you get from this career. It is extremely rewarding and is a job that you can go home every day knowing you made a real difference to their life. Here are some of the top benefits of being a nurse.
When you are a nurse it is not like other careers. In some jobs you go in and know that each day will be pretty much like the one before and how it will be again tomorrow. You can sit at your desk, drink your coffee, work and clock off at 5:30, ready to do it all again. Not so much as a nurse.
Because you are dealing with a whole host of different people with different illnesses and conditions that can change at any moment, no two days are the same.
You’ll have a whole myriad of different tasks to do and while elements of your role will be the same day after day, the general structure of your shift can be completely different. This is one of the best things and it means that your job will never get boring no matter how long you have done it for. You will continually learn, progress and better both yourself and your work skills.
When you decide to be a nurse there are a whole host of different nursing roles that you can do.
You could choose to specialize in a particular field such as in…
Each of the above are different branches of nursing that you could try. If you have a more advanced qualification such as a postgraduate, then you could become an advanced nursing practitioner or even a nurse consultant.
Once you have your experience working as a nurse, you could also go into teaching or research for medical conditions or become a travel nurse. Several countries, including the USA, Australia and Canada, need nurses to fill the shortage gap and offer excellent travel nurse pay.
These are all really useful and helpful paths and it is up to you to decide which you go into. You could try one form of nursing for a while and then find out that you would be interested in trying something new.
As a nurse you know that you go into work every day and make a real difference to people’s lives. Without you their day would be completely different and you really impact their lives. It could be that you are the person that made them smile when it was the last thing in the world that they felt like doing. Or that you helped them get through a really tough time.
When someone is in hospital it is often not only their physical self which is struggling, but they can suffer mentally too. This could be because they are coming to terms with a serious illness, or that they are feeling lonely, or just that they are struggling with their mental health being in a hospital and away from their usual routine.
You can offer a friendly face, a laugh and a caring temperament that can make all the difference. Plus you can help them feel more dignified in certain situations, ease their pain when they are suffering and just help their hospital experience to be as okay as it can be in the circumstances.
No one wants to be in hospital so with your care you can make it that little bit more bearable for them. You could look into getting some quality nursing scrubs from Uniform Advantage to jazz up your uniform and make your patients smile!
If you have a busy family life or just need extra flexibility when you work, then becoming a bank nurse can be a great idea. This is when you pick up shifts as and when you need them and when the hospital needs you. It means you can easily fit it around your family life (such as taking your kids to school or picking them up). Plus, it leaves you with more time to do other things you need to do.
Or maybe you have worked as a nurse for all your life, but you are looking to wind it down. But you don’t want to stop completely. Becoming a bank nurse and having this flexibility can mean that you don’t have to give up working completely. Basically, you don’t have to maintain the same rigorous and intense hours that can come with working full time as a nurse.
In a time when job security means everything and more and more companies are going under, you know that being a nurse is a secure job. We will always need nurses and it is not a career that can be replaced so you know you have great job security. You can also progress to other areas if they need extra help and have the flexibility to go and work abroad or join a travel nursing agency.
If you are excited to explore changing your career to be a nurse, keep in mind that there are many countries that are always looking for nurses. Meaning? You have lots of opportunities to see the world while also working, broadening your experience and your expertise at the same time. Places such as Australia are notorious for paying nurses very well! These are just a few things that you need to know before you change your career to become a nurse.
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