Nursing is the career choice for men and women in the 21st century. The career outlook is excellent for the nursing field, with an estimated 100,000 vacant positions and a growing need.
A nursing degree will open doors in all kinds of practice settings and provide a future promoting health, preventing disease, and helping patients cope with illness. Nurses are also advocates and health educators for patients, families, and communities. With a nursing degree, you can use the opportunities that fit you best to choose your career path.
Nurses care for people of all ages, helping them to regain and maintain positive health. These services are provided in hospital settings, home health agencies, long-term care facilities, community health clinics, corporations, and schools. Within these settings, the nursing role may expand to include such functions as clinician, case manager, teacher or researcher. You can earn more than you think as a nurse. The field of nursing offers competitive salaries and excellent benefits.
Nursing is a profession focused on assisting individuals, families, and communities in attaining, maintaining, and recovering optimal health and functioning. Modern definitions of nursing define it as a science and an art that focuses on promoting quality of life as defined by persons and families, throughout their life experiences from birth to care at the end of life.
Nurses practice in a wide range of settings, from hospitals to visiting people in their homes and caring for them in schools to research in pharmaceutical companies. Nurses work in occupational health settings (also called industrial health settings), free-standing clinics and physician offices, nurse-run clinics, long-term care facilities, and camps. They also work on cruise ships and in military service. Nurses act as advisers and consultants to the healthcare and insurance industries. Some are attorneys and others work with attorneys as legal nurse consultants, reviewing patient records to assure that adequate care was provided and testifying in court. Nurses can work on a temporary basis, which involves doing shifts without a contact in a variety of settings, sometimes known as per diem nursing, agency nursing or travel nursing.
