Choosing your ideal career path can be difficult because every role requires different characteristics, offers different pay grades, and some even have strange working hours.
Ultimately, every job is different – but how do you know if a medical or nursing job is right for you?
Here, we are going to be discussing medical and nursing careers to see what they entail and what you need to bring to the role in order to be a success.
This way, you can work out what it will take to thrive in this kind of career and if details such as the working hours or pay meets your needs.
So, let’s dive in!
Reasons You May Want To Be A Nurse
Nursing is one of the most top ranked careers in the United States and offers a lot of benefits to those willing to take up the role.
But what are these benefits? What makes nursing so attractive to many people seeking a career change? Let’s find out!
Nurses Make Good Money
Let’s start off with one of the most attractive reasons to start a career in medical or nursing services – the pay.
A typical nurse’s salary may vary due to a range of factors including specialty, the facility they work in, how much experience they have, and the type of qualifications they have achieved.
However, the median pay for a registered nurse was just over $75,000 in 2020. That breaks down to around $36 an hour!
So, choosing a career in medical or nursing services is sure to allow you to make a good amount of money.
It’s Rewarding Work
One of the main reasons why a lot of people want to go into medical or nursing services is because it gives them a sense of purpose and feels rewarding.
Knowing that you are helping vulnerable people everyday, saving lives and offering support, can be a huge boost to your self-esteem.
This is one of the main benefits of any caring career so if you want a job which allows you to feel like you are doing something for the greater good and really making a positive impact, then nursing might be the one for you.
Medical and Nursing Services Is A Stable Job
No matter what happens, every hospital will need nurses.
The number of patients is on the rise but the number of registered nurses is decreasing each year, meaning that if you want to step into a stable and steady job, nursing and medical services is where you should go.
Nurses and medical staff are in high demand and always will be because they play such a vital role in our society.
This means that you can easily find a paying job near you and you will have that job for many years to come as long as you want to remain in it.
There’s no profits to worry about, no concern about the number of orders decreasing – making nursing and medical services one of the most secure careers out there.
Lots Of Opportunities For Advancement
With nursing and medical services, there comes a ton of opportunities to learn and grow. This means you can easily advance in your role, climbing up the ladder towards more responsibilities and higher pay grades.
You can also achieve additional qualifications from docrates, to degrees, and practitioning.
Some places will even offer to pay for you to undertake additional training and education which you can add to your CV so you can apply for higher positions in the future.
Every Shift Is Different
There’s no monotony in nursing or medical services. Every shift is different as you just don’t know what or who is about to come through the doors.
This is great for people who love a new challenge every day and hate the idea of doing the same work day after day.
Plus, this keeps your job interesting and allows you to put your talents and skills to the test. Each patient is a new problem for you to solve, and this kind of challenge entices a lot of people towards this kind of career.
The Challenges Of Medical And Nursing Careers
No career or profession is without its challenges, and nursing and medical services come with some of the biggest challenges of all.
It’s not uncommon for people to qualify for this career only to find out it doesn’t suit them for a range of reasons – so let’s check out some of the biggest challenges medical and nursing professions face.
It’s Stressful And Emotional
Working in medical and nursing services will mean that you will be thrown into emergencies and high-risk situations.
You will be under a lot of pressure and may even lose some patients – and this can have a serious toll on your mental health.
Burnout is real in nursing and many medical practitioners say that they develop ‘compassion fatigue’ after so many years of stress. They can suddenly stop caring and the job feels a lot less rewarding than it originally did.
Alternatively, you will be a lot of vulnerable people, their families, and this can be immensely emotional (see also ‘Is It Really Emotionally Exhausting Working As A Nurse?‘).
Nurses and medical practitioners also have high work loads which contributes to their stress, particularly after the pandemic. This has resulted in super busy shifts (see also ‘Struggling To Handle Busy Shifts?‘), crowded hospitals, long waiting lists and more – and nurses have to juggle a lot of tasks.
There are also shortages of nurses which contributes to this too, meaning that each nurse now shoulders a lot more responsibility than they did years ago.
This is one of the main reasons why a lot of people quit nursing. They can’t handle the traumatic events, the stress, the high workload, and it all builds to their breaking point.
Nurses Work Long Hours
The average nurse’s shift lasts around 12 or 13 hours and they can start and finish at any time of day. This means that if you want to go into nursing or medical services, you need to be prepared for long, draining shifts filled with lots of work.
Not only that but it can be difficult to balance your work life and home life as your shifts can take you all day or night (see also ‘Day Shift Vs. Night Shift For Nurses‘).
Plus, you will be required to work weekends and holidays – so think about whether this flexibility is right for you or if you would prefer more stability with your working hours.
Final Thoughts
Although there are lots of challenges to a medical or nursing career, there are a ton of rewards too.
It’s important that you think through each area carefully before committing yourself so check over the above information and think about whether or not this kind of career is right for you.