Making a career of nursing is rewarding because you get to help others. Once you graduate, you get to join more than 2.5 million registered nurses all over the country and this number is still growing as there is a shortage that needs to be filled.

What makes nursing so interesting is that you get to combine science and technology with care and compassion. If you think you learned everything there is to know in school, you are wrong because you are able to learn new things when you are on the job and there are advanced courses you can take to make you better.

In general, nurses assist in bringing babies into the world and give advice to the new mothers after childbirth. They also help people recover from sicknesses and conduct physical examinations. For those that are suffering from a terminal illness, they help the family accept the fact that their loved one will soon pass and go to a better place.

The nurse does not only follow the directions given by the doctor. At times, they assess the patient’s emotional state, lifestyle and physical condition so they know what else needs to be done to help the person recover. They also help in the planning process because they are the ones who are in constant contact with the patient.

When the plan has been made, it is up to them to put this into effect. For patients that will be discharged from the hospital, they can teach the patient or a family member how to change the dressing or what exercises need to be done to improve their physical condition after undergoing surgery.

If the plan that was implemented doesn’t work, this is the time that the nurse should review what was done in the past and make the necessary adjustments.

One of the things people think about before applying for a job is how much they can earn. According to one survey, entry level nurses earn about $45,000 annually which is much more than what accountants or teachers earn. You make more when you work overtime and as you gain experience, naturally how much you will be earning increases.

For those who take advance studies, you can expect to earn a lot more. Nurse anesthetists for instance make about $113,000 while practitioners make an average of $71,000.

If ever you get tired helping patients in hospitals, you can find work in a home care, community health clinic, outpatient surgery centers, long term care centers, corporate health centers, research facilities, schools, international service organizations like the Peace Corp and in insurance companies.

You can continue doing here what you used to do in the past or work as educators, consultants, instructors, inspectors and researchers.

To help you get started on this career, you need to have a high school diploma with a sufficient score in your GED. Aside from the SAT, you will have to take the NLN pre-admission exam. If you happen to pass, only then will you be able to go to a nursing school and get classroom instruction on various subjects before you have the opportunity to get hands on experience with a patient.

There are three types of programs which you can choose from to jumpstart your nursing career. Choose the one that interests you the most and then make the most out of it.