Registered nurses make up the largest professional sector of the medical field in the US. In 2011 there were 2,909,357 licensed RNs working in the United States. However of all of those nurses only 8% of them were under the age of 30 years old and only 5.8% of them were men. The average median age for a registered nurse in the US in 2011 was 46.8 years. As you can see in order to ease the shortage of registered nurses that exists in many states across the country an influx of new nurses will be needed to prevent a crisis in a decade or so, when so many of the registered nurses working today begin to retire and leave the profession.
Traits of a Good RN – Nursing of any kind – and especially registered nursing – is not for everyone. Being an RN calls for a certain degree of physical stamina as shifts are often 12 hours in length and much o that time is spent standing, walking and lifting. An RN also needs a great deal of emotional stamina as they are called upon to deal with both difficult situations and on occasion difficult patients and even difficult co-workers.
The Role of a Registered Nurse – Becoming a registered nurse opens the door to a huge array of different career paths. The RN designation can be the stepping stone to higher designations like Nurse Practitioner or an RN can choose, once they have a certain amount of basic working experience under their belt in a certain field of medicine or within a certain sub specialty.
Whatever direction an RN takes their career in there are some things that are expected of all RNs although their actual legal scope of practice is defined by their state’s Nurse Practice Act. In the most basic of terms a registered nurse job description is that of a generalist medical professional who is responsible for helping to effectively treat patients, to educate those patients and often the public at large about assorted medical conditions, while providing a great measure of emotional support for both a patient and their loved ones.
On a daily basis in a hospital setting, which is where 60% of the nation’s registered nurses are currently employed, they will be required to document patients’ medical histories and symptoms, as well as their progress. Often a registered nurse will also perform or help perform certain diagnostic tests and will have a hand in helping analyze the results of those tests. An RN is a crucial part of any medical team and they are usually closely involved not only in implementing a plan of care for an individual patient but for setting it in motion in the first place.
Often when a newly graduated registered nurse begins work he or she does begin their career in a hospital and will work in whatever department they are assigned to. Usually they themselves will be supervised by not just one but a number of doctors and the registered nurse will often be responsible for a team of LPNs and/or CNAs. After a while many hospital based registered nurses will gravitate to working in just a single department, essentially choosing to specialize in that certain branch of medicine and patient care.
Specialist Registered Nurses - There are generally four basic ways a registered nurse can choose to specialize their care efforts within a hospital environment. Some registered nurses choose to work only in a work a certain setting or administer only a certain type of type of treatment, including OR nurses who work exclusively in and around the operating room providing pre and post surgical care and L&D nurses who work only in maternity wards helping with the pre and post natal care as well as providing crucial assistance throughout the birthing process itself.
Other registered nurses decide to specialize in working with patients with specific health conditions, for example, diabetes management nurses, who play a huge role in assisting patients who have diabetes manage their condition as well as treat it and oncology nurses who work exclusively with cancer patients to cater to their very special physical and emotional needs. .
Registered nurses can also opt to work within a field of medicine that concentrates on certain bodily organs or body system types. One example of this is a dermatology nurse, who works exclusively with patients of all kinds who are suffering from a wide variety of skin disorders, or a dialysis nurse who works only with those suffering from kidney disease and renal failure.
The final basic option open to a registered nurse is to choose to work with a specific type of patient, such as working as a geriatric nurse or as a pediatric nurse. Often however all these options converge into a single job – working as a pediatric oncology nurse for example – but the one thing that there is no shortage of for an RN is career options. An RN can also pursue additional schooling such as an MSN degree which would get them a Master of Science in Nursing and open up a wealth of job possibilities in the future.
Registered Nurses Out of a Hospital Setting – Although the great majority of registered nurses do spend at least part of their careers working in a hospital there are plenty of other choices available to them as well. RNs work in community health centers, private doctors offices, for schools and corporations, as travel nurses and even for the health insurance companies themselves. Before however an RN can begin to think about the type of job they want they have to complete their nursing education and become licensed.
Registered Nurse Education Options – In order to attain the level of education needed to become eligible to sit for the NCLEX-RN licensing test a student must complete at least 2 years of education at a nursing school or within a nursing program that is approved or accredited by their home state. Only education obtained at an accredited school will be counted as eligible by any state’s Board of nursing so it is crucial that the program a would be registered nurse chooses is listed on the state’s list of accredited programs which is usually displayed on the website of each individual Board of Nursing.
Two Year ASN or Four Year BSN? – When it comes to the education required to become a registered nurse student have two basic options – take a two year course that results in an Associated Degree in Nursing and the right to become an RN or undertake a four year course to earn a Bachelor’s of Science in nursing instead. Many of the two year RN programs are offered by community colleges and technical schools across the country while four year degree programs are offered at both private and public senior colleges.
Every RN program has its own set of rules and requirements and some are easier to gain admission to than others. There are certain things that they all have in common when it comes to entry requirements though. Students must be over the age of 18 and must be able to demonstrate that they are legally entitled to live and work in the US. Many nursing programs also require a student be able to pass a basic physical and a background check as these are requirements for eventual licensure as an RN anyway.
The practical training received by a student who chooses a 2 year degree over a four year degree is about as extensive but there is more nursing theory involved in a BSN degree which is one of the big reasons that a management position for an RN usually requires a BSN these days. In addition in order to become an advanced practice nurse a student will need to pursue a Master’s degree which they cannot until they have an undergraduate degree first.
One educational path that is gaining in popularity is an RN to BSN degree which is pursued by a working registered nurse and can be completed on a part time basis and even on-line.
The NCLEX-RN Exam – After completing the requisite amount of education to be eligible in order to become licensed a graduate of an RN program of any kind must pass the NCLEX-RN exam. This is a nationwide test overseen by each state but administered by a single company – Pearson Vue – at testing centers all over the country.
The NCLEX – RN exam is mostly comprised of multiple choice questions but some visual recognition and essay questions have been added in recent years. Most nursing program stake great pains to prepare their students to take, and to pass the NCLEX-RN but there are additional tutoring and study aid options available for those who feel they need it.
Salaries for Registered Nurses – Because the scope of practice for a registered nurse is so wide it is practically impossible to name an average salary for an RN and the amount a registered nurse is compensated for their work also varies quite a great deal from state to state and even city to city. It is however safe to say that in general a registered nurse’s salary is a relatively good one in comparison to many other professions and there are a great many job opportunities out there, even in a recession. Usually though in any state and in any field of registered nursing the minimum annual salary an RN can expect to earn is somewhere in the region of $60,000 but it is usually higher than that.