If you are reading this, you are probably considering nursing as a career choice. And if you are thinking about becoming a nurse, you are a caring person who wants to make a difference in other peoples’ lives. That is pretty much a given; people who are not caring rarely consider nursing as a job of choice. 

If this describes you, then nursing can be a great career choice. Let’s look at some of the reasons why. 

Nurses really do make a difference. 

Whether it’s catching a mistaken and potentially deadly incorrect medication order, smoothing out a sheet to prevent a pressure ulcer, explaining what a diagnosis means and how to take the prescribed treatment, or recognizing subtle changes that signal a major problem developing, nurses are the healthcare professionals who have the greatest (if often underrecognized) impact on their patient’s survival and wellbeing. 

In most healthcare settings, nurses spend hours in direct contact with their patients, while physicians may not get more than a few minutes with each person they are caring for. Nurses are most often the one’s to catch a problem developing, recognize signs of sexual abuse, realize that a patient doesn’t understand what they are supposed to be doing, and all the many other important interactions that make a huge difference in whether people live or die, whether they stay sick or get well, and how healthy they are able to be. 

Within healthcare, one of the most prestigious awards or recognitions is the Magnet™ designation. Magnet facilities must meet strict criteria for nursing excellence and patient outcomes. hospitals work extremely hard to get and maintain Magnet status. 

In other words, the most prestigious award in healthcare is built primarily on nurses. Because nurses really do make a difference. 

Nursing is high tech and high touch. 

I work in home care, so the work I do is not as high tech as some of my in-hospital colleagues. But I love that nursing is a combination of high tech and high touch. 

Assessing pulses, checking for swelling, noticing whether skin is hotter or colder than it should be—the sense of touch is crucial for practicing nursing. Setting up a humidity circuit, connecting a ventilator, hanging an IV medication, using a blood glucose monitor—these are high tech skills. High tech is knowing what to do and how to do it, with complex machines and complicated regimens. High touch is using the sense of touch to assess, diagnose, soothe, and heal. The combination is part of what makes nursing so satisfying, rewarding, and continually interesting. 

There are multiple specialty areas within nursing. 

As a youngster, I started out in personal care (like a less intense nursing home) and then moved to a Medical Surgical unit in a hospital. Getting bored with that, I transferred to the Emergency Department. After several years of working overtime and being in school, I needed a break and went back to long term care. After a year or so, refreshed, I looked for a new challenge and found it in pediatric home care. And if I ever decide that I want another or more challenging job, the options are endless. 

From flight nursing to hospice care, from prison to parish, from pediatrics to geriatrics, from fitness nursing to labor and delivery, there are options for every personality, skill level and adrenaline junkie or lack thereof. And that is part of what makes nursing such a great career choice for so many people. You always have options, and with the current nursing shortage, there are plenty of jobs available, even for new graduates. 

Nurses make great marriage partners. 

Okay, okay, this one is a bit tongue in cheek. But think about it for a moment. Nurses are dedicated, hardworking, unselfish, detail oriented, and caring. These qualities are also important in a marital relationship. In a sense, working as a nurse means that all day every day you also get to practice the skills and character qualities that make your marriage more likely to succeed. Practice at being a beautiful human being gets built right into every day. 

However, long hours (especially in hospital-based positions) can be hard on a marriage, and nurses sometimes find that they have almost nothing left to give to those they love most. While the skills and character qualities required to be a great nurse are similar to those required to be a great spouse, you do need to actually use them in your marriage. A nursing career can be very hard on a marriage, or it can be used as an asset and a practice ground for a great marriage. 

Nursing pays well, so you are able to give time and money to needs. 

Depending on the hours and specialty you choose, as well as geographic location, you can expect to earn anywhere from $20,000 to $70,000 USD per year. In some seasons, I have chosen to work fewer hours or a less demanding schedule, so that I have time for volunteer work. At other times, I have been working more or working a very demanding schedule; but have then been able to donate more in money. 

Regardless, nursing can be a career that provides flexibility in how you choose to give and to serve, outside of the work itself. 

Nurses make a difference. 

There are many more reasons why nursing is a great career choice, and this blog barely begins the list that could be made. Repeatedly, year after year (in 2020, seventeen years in a row), nurses earn the top-ranking spot for public perception of honesty and ethics in an annual poll done by Gallup. 

Nursing is a trusted and respected profession that truly does make a difference. Nursing is a great career choice.