
To be a nurse requires a deep interest in work in healthcare and a desire to take care of or help others. If you want to be a nurse, consider the following advantages and disadvantages to be sure it is the right opportunity for you.
Pros:
1. Caring for others: Your main duty will be taking care of the sick and saving lives. Taking care of others is be more rewarding if your ultimate goal is to see others doing well.
2. Learn new things: Every day is a learning experience. As a nurse, you will constantly work ad meet new patients and it will be a learning platform for new things as you take care of the patients.
3. Job demand: Nurses are needed everywhere. As the population keeps on growing, more nurses are needed in the society hence there is a higher demand for nurses.
4. Making good money: Although being a nurse is a calling, you do make good money by being a nurse. You also have an opportunity to work extra shifts and overtime and get more money.
5. Choose a specialty: The nursing industry is growing vast and as a result, you can choose a career in nursing in specific areas. You may choose to work in the adults or children section or decide to work in the operating room and ER.
6. Diverse Opportunities: You’re not inclined to only work in hospitals, you can choose to apply your skills as a travel nurse, work in military bases, in airplanes, or even choose to work in a cruise ship. There are plenty of opportunities you can work in.
7. No worries about work clothes: It is annoying to prepare for work clothes every morning. Moreover, looking for perfect clothes consumes a lot of time. Sometimes you get annoyed in the morning after you are late for work. Nursing is one of the easiest professional when it comes to getting ready for work. You simply pick your pair of trousers, a dress, skirt and mask. You will not be stressed about buying official clothes for certain fields like banking and other government jobs.
8. Save lives: People claim that nursing can be compared to a calling from God. The main aim of nurses is to save more lives. Furthermore, they can monitor changes quickly before it affects the patient. For instance, those who suffer from mental health and severe illness need frequent care to prevent death.
9. Broad work: Nursing is unpredictable work. This means you cannot be sure of your daily work like in other fields. Nurses meet different patients with various ailments. This includes dealing with critical emergencies, helping patients to recover, comforting them, and checking on them during shifts.
10. Wide range of specialization: Nursing is a growing field that has led to various types. Unlike other jobs, nursing has different categories for specialization. This includes cardiac nurse, critical care, family nurse practitioner, geriatric nurse, public health nurse, travel nurse, pediatric, orthopedic, and oncology.
Cons:
1. Difficult patients: As a nurse, not every time your work will be easy and smooth, sometimes you will have to deal with difficult patients.
2. Work long hours: There are days when you have to work for long hours. Sometimes you may be required to work in shifts or take extra shifts which may be compensated with monetary rewards.
3. Emotional strain: Sometimes you may feel sad if the patient you’re taking care of is not improving or when you lose a patient you have been taking care of.
4. Physical Demands: You will constantly lift things or people in the hospital and this requires a lot of your energy. You will also be on your feet all day moving to different sections to check on patients, therefore, you need to have comfortable shoes.
5. Exposed to germs: There are so many sick people in hospital beds and doctor’s offices and this exposes one to a lot of germs. Therefore, you should wash your hands during and after every shift.
6. Working holidays: As a nurse, you might find yourself working over holidays and weekends. Even when on an off day, you may be called to come and replace someone.
7. Results of injuries: Most nurses complain of back and foot problems. It is a tiresome profession that you are required to stand for long hours moving to the hospital. You can prevent these injuries by stretching and wearing comfortable shoes.
8. Emotional profession: You can become emotional while dealing with a patient who is involved in a critical accident. In addition to that, nurses witness more deaths thus it causes emotions.
9. Pressure: Nurses face a lot of pressure. They are forced to answer questions from patients seeing that they are in the ward most of the time.
10. Unappreciated: Not all patients believe in nurses. They believe that a nurse needs a doctor to save people.