Key or essential workers have been working around the clock during 2020, and nowhere are they more important than in the hospitals. Nurses already make up the backbone of healthcare, but this year they have taken a true forefront of care that everyone has come to rely on. With a pandemic spreading across the world, frontline workers have been the last defense against the virus that has already claimed so many lives.
Their work is admirable, inspiring, and they need help. If you are looking for a new career, then consider a career in nursing. It is exceptionally accessible to get involved in thanks to online nursing programs, and you can start working and earning with just a few short weeks’ worths of training.
Pre-Nurse Positions You Can Work in Now
What we traditionally think of as a nurse is a Registered Nurse or Advanced Practice Registered Nurse. To become an RN, you need to have either an Associate Degree in Nursing or a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. To become an APRN, you need both a BSN degree and an MSN. Thankfully online nursing programs are available to help you through almost every pathway you choose. For example, you could opt for a bridge course that allows you to start as an ADN-RN and earn your BSN and your MSN at the same time.
You can work to study or earn an ADN or BSN degree at any time. If you are looking to start a new career in nursing and already have an undergraduate degree, you almost always can transfer a few credits over to your BSN to speed up the process.
If you need work now, however, then the best way is to work your way up the nursing ladder. This way, you can work and continue to study on your own time, allowing you to take care of both your personal and professional responsibilities.
Certified Nursing Assistant
The first tier of nursing that you can get into isn’t technically a nursing position, though you will be working closely with nurses and providing essential support to patients. Your responsibilities will be depending on the state. In some cases, your responsibilities may include dispensing medication, in others, you will be strictly on supportive tasks like cleaning patients or changing out the bedsheets. The work is essential, and more importantly is allows you to earn while working towards becoming an LPN or RN.
Licensed Nursing Practitioner
Another level of nurse below Registered Nurses is a Licensed Nursing Practitioner or LPN. They have more advanced roles. You may be checking and recording vitals; you may need to draw blood, or even start an IV drip. Like with CNA roles, what you will be doing specifically depends entirely on the state. To become one usually takes around one year of study but will allow you to earn more and work on more advanced tasks.
How to Become a Registered Nurse: Your Main Options
You can only go up as a nurse, and with so many different areas of medicine and workplaces, you can customize this career to suit your needs and interests. There are also a wide variety of online nursing programs
With an Associate Degree in Nursing
Typically, the suggestion for prospective RNs is to not go for the ADN route. It takes around two years to complete and isn’t one of the traditional prerequisites to earning an MSN later on. Though this is usually the case, there are online nursing programs that allow you to bridge your ADN, so that you can work to complete your BSN and MSN at the same time. It works to leverage the knowledge you already have and fill in the gaps.
When it comes to advancing your career from an ADN, there is no better way than with such online nursing programs. If you want to break up your efforts, however, then choose the online nursing programs that will allow you to bridge your ADN to a BSN, and later on work towards your MSN.
With a Bachelor of Science in Nursing
The more clear-cut option is to work towards your BSN. You will get paid more, and your skillset will be more advanced, meaning you will contribute to a demonstrable improvement for your patients and the overall wellbeing of those in the hospital. You will also face fewer difficulties finding a position, as many states are working towards an 80% minimum BSN-RN ratio.
How to Get the Most Out of Your Career
Online nursing programs are not the only way to get the most out of your career. They are essential; of course, you physically cannot progress in nursing without state licenses, and to earn those licenses you need formal qualifications. You also learn many key skills and information with online nursing programs that cannot be replicated well at your workplace because most will not have the skills to teach the relevant material, even if they are proficient in the skills you will need.
There should be nothing stopping you from earning a BSN or working towards your BSN from an ADN. RNs have a generalized skillset. You can think of what you learn there as the foundation for the MSN online nursing programs you can specialize in later.
Choosing the right specialization, however, is key, and to determine what online nursing programs you should apply to you will first want to:
Shadow Different Departments
Wherever you work right now, try to shadow different departments or work in different roles as much as possible. It’s important to diversify so that you can find your stride and explore the different areas of medicine before you commit. Though you can always expand your qualifications, later on, it is hard to change your nursing type. Being more assured of your choice can make it easier to study, work, and have it all.
Find the Right Working Environment
Though right now, nurses working in hospitals are definitely the ones getting the most attention; nurses in every single role are important. Just because there is a pandemic on does not mean that general health has been put on pause. More than that, of course, is that you will work best when you find the right working environment for you personally. If you need a more consistent structure, find the right environment where you can thrive. If you need the challenge to keep things interested and to stay invested, then there are places to work as a nurse that will suit you perfectly.
Generally speaking, you will have a few main options, but there will be differences between all of them depending on who is in charge and what their individual commitments are. Don’t feel bad if you jump from place to place. The important part is finding where you feel at home and where you can put your skills to best use.
Clinic
The first option is the clinic. There are both 24/7 clinics and family clinics alike that you can choose from. Regular clinics will keep standard hours and may only have so many patients or clients at a time. If you work in a 24/7 clinic, you will be dealing with as many cuts, scrapes, and other minor injuries that are similar to many ER facilities as you will be sexual health appointments. They work as the local hospital, whereas regular clinics keep regular hours and are by appointment only.
Hospital
In a hospital, you have many different departments to work in. It is also here where you will often get your first start working as a nurse. It’s a good idea to take your time working here to try to branch out and work in different departments so that you can get a feel for the work and try out new interests.
It would help if you were happy with the level of work, the pace of the work, and the topic of your work. If you are passionate about the area of medicine you are working in, and your working day supports your health and wellbeing, you will have found the perfect choice for you.
Privately
You can work privately in a variety of settings. Midwife nurses, for example, frequently have their own set of clients or patients that they tend to right in their own homes. You may also work privately in a clinic, or for a private clinic.
Traveling
Thanks to the NLC, or Nurse Licensure Compact, it is a simple matter of transferring your nursing license to another state (if you originally earned your license in a participating state). This way, you can work as a traveling nurse. What this means is that instead of working in a set location, you work and travel as you go. You typically fill in empty positions in hospitals and clinics as necessary.
There is a big nursing shortage, so you can get out there and explore our country while providing essential care to patients this way.
Care Facilities
The last main location where you can work as a nurse is in care homes or facilities. You can start and work here at almost any level, with many CNAs and LPNs working here full-time.
Other Locations
The fact is that you can take your skills almost anywhere. You can work on the healthcare team for sports teams. You can provide backup and care for those on movie sets or at events. You can work in practically every industry as a nurse, from schools to the white house, but working in these locations requires a lot of networking and patience. The teams are small and often made up of those that are trusted. You may not even be able to apply until you have a few years as an RN or APRN. You will also want to have the most grounded skillset, so look into becoming a clinical nurse specialist or family nurse practitioner.
Specialize with an MSN and DNP
When you know the area of medicine that excites you the most you will be ready to tackle an MSN, and later on even a DNP if you want to progress your career even further. It is important to note that you only need an MSN to become an APRN, and APRNs are the highest tier of nursing. Your DNP will prepare you for leadership roles, educational roles, or work to set yourself apart from others in your field.
There are a few main types of APRNs, so ideally you should know at least which you want to work towards:
Nurse Practitioner
APRN-NPs are one of the most common APRN types. The most popular of the options is Family Nurse Practitioner, which in many states gives you diagnostic and prescription writing privileges. You can even go on to start your own NP clinic to help improve and manage the health in local communities.
Nurse Midwife
Nurse-midwives work throughout the stages of pregnancy and afterward. They are becoming more popular as more and more parents want personalized, at-home care throughout their pregnancy.
Nurse Anesthetist
Nurse anesthetists make the most out of any nurse and work wherever anesthesia is essential. This includes in surgery rooms and clinics alike.
Clinical Nurse Specialist
Clinical nurse specialists make up another chunk of APRNs. You can even specialize in areas otherwise covered by nurse-midwifery, for example, by working in pediatrics or elsewhere. They specialize in a specific type of medicine, rather than work more generally, and are therefore found in specialty clinics and hospitals most often.
Getting Started
You can either get started today with online nursing programs, or you can get straight into work after just 3 to 8 weeks with a certified nursing assistant program. It depends entirely on your personal responsibilities. If you need to work now to support yourself or others financially, working your way up from a CNA is an excellent route to take. You will be doing so much to help others and your fellow nurses, and you can start very, very quickly.
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