As with every career, there are pros and cons to nursing. These factors should be considered prior to committing the time and effort to study nursing and to become the best nurse you can be.
Pros
- Job Security: There will always be a high demand for nurses, as for as long as there is life on earth, individuals will need to be taken care of and receive medical attention when necessary.
- Wide variety of high paying salaries: There are many different fields of nursing, each with different salaries. No matter what field of nursing one goes into, the starting salary would be good to support life.
- Rewarding: Every shift, you walk away knowing you helped someone feel better and work to becoming a healthier, better version of themselves. Nurses also get to develop meaningful relationships with not only their patients, but also their patients families.
- Opportunities to advance in career: Nursing is always growing, as there is always knew knowledge and treatments being researched and made available. Nurses can also grow to become more specialized by working in a more specific area in nursing, such as emergency, oncology, psychiatry, etc.
- Travel Opportunities: There are travel nursing jobs that can place you anywhere around the world, allowing you to travel and enjoy different sceneries and cultures.
- Flexible Schedules: Most nursing careers will expect 3, 12 hour shifts a week. Although that is most, others will allow for 8 hour shifts, and other options to accommodate families and other obligations for their employees.
Cons
- Physically demanding: Nurses work on their feet all day. Along with being on their feet all day, they are lifting and moving patients, carrying equipment, and in some cases preform CPR which is a workout in itself.
- Long hours: Most nurses are expected to work 12 hour shifts. This is unlike a regular 9-5 that most individuals are used to, especially considering the physical demands of the job.
- Exposure to viruses: Nurses are exposed to many different pathogens as they are surrounded by sick individuals. This puts them as risk for developing certain infections.
- Emotional burnout: Nurses see a lot of grueling things, such as severe bleeding, patients in excruciating pain, and death. This can cause a lot of emotional damage for nurses.
- Mandatory Vaccinations: To become a nurse, you are required to receive all vaccinations. Some individuals are medically not able to, or are not comfortable receiving certain vaccinations. There are very few exemptions available to not receive vaccines.
