Why Become a Nurse?                   

Nursing is a great profession for several reasons. Not only is it a rewarding career filled with diverse opportunities, but it’s also an occupation that will be in high demand for decades to come. It also ranks high within the public eye for being a trusted and ethical profession, according to the annual Gallup poll.

Career Diversity

As our nation’s health care system continues to become more complex, the field of nursing has followed suit by becoming more diverse than ever. For example, today’s nurses have an even greater impact on patient care, with a growing number of medical providers realizing the value nurses bring to a leaner health care system and improved public health. It has also become more commonplace for nurses to serve as health coaches, care coordinators, disease managers and community liaisons.

Non-traditional nursing careers include:

• Nurse Practitioner: assesses patient needs, orders and interprets diagnostic and laboratory tests, diagnoses disease, formulates and prescribes treatment plans
• Academic nurse writer: authors chapters in medical textbooks
• Health care educator: teaches and inspires the next generation of nurses
• Hospice nurse: helps keep terminally ill patients as comfortable as possible
• Legal nurse consultant: serves as an expert witness for attorneys
• Medical sales rep: assists health care providers in purchasing equipment
• Nurse coach: helps corporations improve employee wellness
• Nursing informatics analyst: manages health care information for facilities
• Research analyst: assists health care facilities in acquiring services and technology