There are many reasons why people choose the jobs they do. It might be that the career offers plenty of money, or there is scope to realize your ambitions. Maybe it fitted in with the hours you had spare, or perhaps it was the location that interested you because you didn’t want to commute too far.
Of course, it could have been none of these things, and it was just something you ‘fell into to’ such as a part-time job that became full time, or something you wanted to try out just to see if you liked it, and then you stayed even if it wasn’t quite right for you.
The problem is if the reason for working in your job isn’t that you love the work itself and you find the career ultimately extremely rewarding, you are always going to feel unsatisfied and uncomfortable. You do need to enjoy what you do if you’re going to get the most out of your work and be happy both there and in the rest of your life too. Remember, the majority of our adult lives are spent working, so there is no point in doing anything that doesn’t suit you or that you hate; life is too short for any of this.
If you feel as though you need to change jobs or entire careers, you should do. There are always going to be ways that you can retrain or gain the qualifications you need to do something else, and even if it is going to take a while, you’ll still get there in the end; if you don’t try, you’ll never get there at all.
Nursing is the kind of career that is ideal for a great number of people, and it is possible to become a nurse no matter what stage of your career you are at. It is hugely rewarding, and here are some of the reasons why.
Nurses Improve Lives
In the majority of cases, any work you do will be done to improve your life essentially. You’ll be paid, you might gain a promotion, you could receive recognition, and you’ll most likely – if you do a good job – feel proud of yourself. A by-product of this is the fact that you will also be doing something for someone else in some way, often by adding to the profits of a business or selling someone something they want or need.
Nursing is different. Yes, you will certainly find that your own life is improved, and you will feel better for it, but you will also be improving the lives of others daily, and this is the main focus. The by-product here happens to be that your own life becomes better as well. There are very few careers you can choose that will allow you to do quite so much for other people, and nursing is one that does. If you’re looking for something that is rewarding because you can change lives for the better and see those changes happening in front of you, nursing is the right choice.
You Can Have A Career for Life
Having a career for life isn’t easy to find these days, it used to be that once you chose your path, which was it for the rest of your life, whether you enjoyed it or not. It is almost expected that people will change their jobs regularly, but the problem with this is that they can become stressed, always looking for the next thing rather than concentrating on what they are doing. Plus, even if they are enjoying their job, the fact that so many others are changing careers and trying something else might make them think that this is something they need to do too.
All this worry and stress can be taken away when you are a qualified nurse. Nursing is a career you can have for your whole life, and you can progress as far as you want to, subject to the work you put in. Plus, because there are so many different branches of nursing to explore, even if you do find that you’re not enjoying the area you are working in quite as much as you thought, you can always learn how to be a nurse anesthetist, or an OR nurse, or perhaps you might decide to work in a more mobile capacity rather than going to the same place each day. There are so many options that you can easily be a nurse for your entire career and yet change disciplines when you feel you want to try something new.
There Is Career Progression
As mentioned briefly above, there are chances to progress your career and remain as a nurse which means you won’t have to leave a career you love just because you don’t feel you are getting anywhere with it. If you want to move up the career ladder, the opportunities to do so will be abundant, and it is wise to continue to look out for the chances that you can take if you are ready to have more responsibility.
Every nurse will start at an entry-level, and they can then progress as far and as fast as they want to. Progression will require experience, knowledge, training, and sometimes additional qualifications, so you will need to ensure you understand what you are going to have to have achieved to get to the next level. Still, if career progression is your ultimate aim, you can have a checklist to ensure you are moving in the right direction.
Of course, you don’t have to progress. If you find a level you are happy with, and you want to stay at that level for your entire working life, you certainly can. In nursing, there is room for everyone no matter how ambitious, or otherwise, they might be. This is why nursing is so rewarding; you can do exactly what you want and be completely happy, only moving on if you’re going to and when you feel you are ready to do so.
You Will Meet A Variety of People
Nurses are often those who enjoy meeting and talking to different people. They are kind and caring, compassionate, and understanding and they can put their patients at ease, explaining what the problem is and how it is going to be solved. Meeting new people is something that nurses will be happy to do, and they will be excited about it. Whether it’s a patient or someone you work this, you will learn a lot about other people’s cultures, beliefs, likes and dislikes, personalities, and humanity overall.
Meeting various people from different backgrounds is something that can feel extremely rewarding, and something that can enhance life immensely. You will learn so much that you will become a much more well-rounded person, having well thought out opinions and a good level of tolerance for all.
This is yet another reason why nursing is such a rewarding career. Once you have this kind of understanding of other people, you can make even more of a difference in the world. We need more kind, compassionate people, and this is exactly what you will be.
The Work-Life Balance
The work-life balance is something that not everyone can achieve. It is the combination of work and your personal life that comes together in just the right levels so that you can enjoy your life all the better. In some careers, this work-life balance is simply not achievable, and some people believe this is the case when it comes to nursing.
The truth is, it is entirely possible to have the perfect work-life balance when you are a nurse. Although you will be working shifts and have long hours to contend with, the fact that the job is such a rewarding one (albeit hard) means that when you are at home, you are much happier and more content.
Despite having to work nights, weekends, and public holidays at times, if you can enjoy your time at home to the utmost because you are completely content in your working life, this offers you a wonderful work-life balance.
Plus, after working these ‘unsociable hours,’ you will have the right amount of time off before you need to come back in and work again. The reason for this is that anyone employing nurses is going to need them to be the best they can be – life and death situations are happening – and they must be well rested for this to happen.
So not only will you be loving your job and not dreading having to go back once your time at home is over, but you will also be able to make the most of that time because you will feel happy; you can enjoy a hobby, spend time with friends and family, or even choose to study more for your next level of career progression. No matter what you do, having a rewarding career to go back to is crucial, and nursing will give it to you every time.
