Nursing might be the first option that comes to mind when you think about career paths that allow you to care for and improve the lives of other people. If you are not satisfied with your current career and want to work in a field where you can make a difference in the world and positively impact the lives of the people that you work with, nursing might be a great choice for you. Nursing is a well-respected and highly rewarding career, with many reasons to consider switching careers into this field. If you want a job that offers more advancement opportunities, more personal satisfaction at the end of each working day, and an exciting, fast-paced work environment, nursing could be for you. Some of the main reasons to consider a career change into nursing include:
High Demand
Becoming a nurse right now is worth much more than simply getting into a job that you prefer to your current career. By training and starting work as a nurse right now, you’ll also be helping to reduce the nursing shortage that is currently causing all sorts of problems with healthcare in the US, particularly amidst a global pandemic. With more nurses reaching retirement age, a shortage of nurse educators, and an aging population, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that we will need hundreds of thousands of new nurses to fill vacancies in the next decade. This is good news for those considering a career switch to nursing, with work available no matter where you go.
Career Advancement
Once you have qualified as a registered nurse with a BSN and an active nursing license, the opportunities for career progression and advancement are endless. Nursing is a career with hundreds of different options when it comes to the direction that you want to take your career in. You may be considering working in a certain specialty area as a nurse or moving up into a more administrative position to work as a nurse leader or manager. Perhaps you want to get into advanced nursing practice, in a role such as an adult gerontology acute care nurse practitioner that you can train for with an advanced nursing degree program from Baylor University. Maybe you are interested in reducing the nursing shortage by getting into a role as a nurse educator. Either way, there are countless opportunities to consider, and a career ladder that can go on forever.
Work Options
Nursing does not always mean that you need to work in a hospital. There are plenty of alternative positions that you can get into with a BSN and even more if you decide to go on to get an advanced degree qualification like an MSN or DNP. Nurses are needed in almost every healthcare setting, allowing you to find and apply for roles in a huge range of environments including doctor’s offices, clinics, residential programs, outpatient care, within the community, prisons, schools, research facilities, and more. Whatever kind of work in the healthcare industry you want to do, you’ll be surprised at the number of options that are available to you once you have qualified as a nurse.
Flexible Study Options
Another great reason to consider changing your current career and taking the leap into nursing in 2021 is that there are now more flexible study options available than ever before. With the demand for nurses on the rise, colleges and nursing schools have made huge investments in offering programs that are more accessible for aspiring nurses who may otherwise struggle to get the qualifications that they need in a traditional on-campus setting. If you want to change your career but do not have the means to get into nursing by taking campus-based classes and quitting your job to study full-time, an online nursing degree program could be the best option for you, offering much more flexibility, which could make it possible for you to continue working as normal and fit your education around your commitments. Online nursing degree programs are now becoming more and more available at every level of nursing education, benefitting registered nurses who want to take their career to the next level while continuing to work full-time as a nurse.
Work Availability
If you are interested in changing your career to work in a field that offers much more job security, you can’t go wrong with nursing. Not only are nurses in increasingly high demand across the US, but they are also professionals that enjoy a very high level of job security. As a nurse, you can usually expect to stay in the same role or with the same employer for many years as long as you are good at your job and enjoy working there. The high availability of nursing positions also means that you can be more flexible with the rest of your life. Nurses are in high demand everywhere, so you will not need to worry about finding work if you’re planning a big relocation.
Personal Reward and Satisfaction
Finally, working as a nurse has many benefits including high demand, great availability and job security, flexible roles, career progression, and more. But for many nurses, one of the biggest advantages of working in this career is the sheer level of personal satisfaction and reward that it brings. There is not much better than working in a career where you can be sure that the work that you do is having a hugely positive impact on the lives of the patients that you work with and their families. The role of a nurse allows you to offer care and support where it is needed the most and bring hope to people who might be going through one of the most difficult times of their lives. While you might not be able to remember every single one of your patients since nurses deal with so many different people, you can be assured that your patients will remember you for the care and compassion you provided when they needed it the most.
If your current career is not the right fit for you, nursing is a choice with many benefits.
