The goal of clinical nursing is to provide direct care to nursing care recipients. In clinical nursing, nurses assist doctors in treating patients in a hospital setting. A large amount of time is spent providing individualized care for each patient, usually on an outpatient basis. Most nurses specialize in a certain area of nursing. Some nurses choose to specialize in critical care, pediatrics, trauma, and neonatal intensive care units.
Before the 20th century, hospitals tended to be inflexible and very overbooked. This made it difficult for nurses to advance to other positions in the field. To address this issue, the nursing industry introduced the concept of managed hospitals. These institutions allowed nurses to advance to management positions and gave them more time to spend on caring for patients.
Because of these changes, nursing became more recognized as a respectable profession and more colleges began offering nursing degree programs. Because there are so many healthcare related job openings for nurses, the demand for nurses has greatly increased in the United States and in other countries around the world. Graduates of nursing degree programs are in high demand throughout the country. Nurses can find jobs in almost any healthcare setting as they are needed everywhere from emergency rooms to outpatient clinics to hospitals. Because most nurses are trained on the job, nurses can often find work in a variety of health care settings.
The median salary for nurses is a little over $40k per year. Salaries tend to be higher for nurses who have several years of experience and/or are highly educated. In addition, nurses who are members of professional organizations earn more than nurses who are not members of these organizations. Typically, registered nurses start out at lower pay ranges than other nurses. As nursing wages continue to increase, registered nurses will likely continue to see an increase in their salaries.
Nurses are now playing a larger role in health care than they did in the past. In the past, nurses were thought to just do bedside duty, giving medications and answering the phones. Today, nurses are responsible for a great number of duties and are expected to have a number of skills that not only help them perform their duties effectively but also help the patient. As nursing advances, it is expected that nurses will become more knowledgeable about prevention and wellness practices.
Nursing is projected to continue to rise as a career option for individuals. In the past, nurses were often women, though there are currently more male nurses than female nurses in the medical field. Nursing schools are preparing students for a career in all areas of nursing, and many schools have combined the academic aspects with hands-on experience through the nursing program. As nursing advances, it will become even easier for nurses to find employment.
Nursing graduates are faced with a number of challenges when they begin their careers. Many nurses will experience a period of time where they are unable to find full-time employment as they advance through their nursing careers. For other nurses, however, steady employment and high nursing salaries are a main source of motivation. Nurses should pursue a number of different options in order to find the job that best suits their needs and salary expectations. Because the field of nursing is so wide-ranging and extremely competitive, it is vital that nurses explore all of their options in order to make the right choice.
