Nursing Rewards and Challenge - Free Paper Example

Introduction

Nursing has evolved from being an unskilled profession to being one of the respectable disciplines that provide unlimited advancement opportunities. Registered nurses constitute 60% of the healthcare profession globally (Smyth, 2019). The United States has more than two million registered nurses. They provide treatment to patients and inform the patients' families with relevant medical information. The nurses' day-to-day responsibilities are checking for vital signs, updating medical records, conducting medical tests, and giving patients medicines (Smyth, 2019). All registered nurses have pursued a bachelor's, associate, or diploma degree from an accredited nursing school and passed the NCLEX-RN exams for nurses. They provide care and treatment to patients in hospitals, schools, companies, and the government. A career in nursing is not only financially dependable but is a personally rewarding career. However, a nursing career has a fair share of challenges too.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

Rewards

Nurses take care of the sick, injured, and dying. It allows them to impact the lives of other people when they are in need (Reineck, 2016). They are important as they make the world a better place. Part of the nurse’s responsibility is to assume the role of a confidant for scared patients who are scared of burdening their families. Sometimes a nurse has to be a good listener to a patient, and other times, they comfort the families and friends to a patient when the patient dies. Nurses are involved in people's lives during the most significant moments like childbirth, recovery, and death. Nursing offers nurses exceptional emotional fulfillment, unlike any other career. Being a nurse is more of a "calling."

Nurses experience compassion as an emotional reward. In assisting other people to recover when they are vulnerable, one experiences compassion for other people more. Gandhi once said, "The best way to find yourself is to get lost in others' service." They remember the positive effect that the nurses had on them forever. Compassionately caring for other human beings plays a significant role in increasing patients' recovery rates (Reineck, 2016). Another emotional reward that nurses' experience is feeling valued. Despite nursing being a tough job, the nurses that are great at their jobs are deeply cherished. Not only are they admired, but they are also held in high regard. Nurses are usually the advocates and first impression of any medical facility.

Nursing is not an isolated job; it involves several other professionals from the medical field. When several people unite for a bigger goal, strong friendships, and dependable professional relationships develop (Reineck, 2016). Such an emotional experience of bonding with others through humor is referred to as camaraderie. Nursing is broad and gives nurses the freedom to select their career path. They get to choose the facility they would prefer to work within. That is hospitals, schools, or companies. Nurses also have the privilege to select the departments in which they will work and specialize. It is favorable for the nurses, and it helps them curve their own personal and professional growth.

Financial benefits include compensation, job security and demand, and employment benefits. Irrespective of the state economy, the healthcare industry still thrives. The medical advances and an increase in the aged population directly result in an increased number of people who need healthcare services. This results in high demand for medical professionals in hospitals, especially nurses, because they are responsible for daily patient care. The United States Bureau of Labor and Statistics foresees one-fifth career growth for registered nurses and a quarter for licensed practical nurses between 2012 and 2022 (Reineck, 2016). Nursing as a career is stable and secure in a growing sector. Graduates in this industry do not struggle to find employment. Licensed and registered nurses earn an average annual salary that ranges from $40,000 to $100,000 depending on their specialization and the institution in which they are working (Reineck, 2016). Outpatient care centers and home healthcare firms pay nurses higher wages.

Besides competitive salaries, nursing offers nurses many opportunities to build on their current education and advance their education up to a doctorate (Reineck, 2016). Acquiring a higher-level degree increases expansion opportunities. For instance, a registered nurse can specialize in being a trauma nurse or medical-surgical nurse. Due to the high demand for nurses and their crucial role in medical care, it is easy for them to secure scholarships, reducing the amount they need to borrow. The cost of a nursing program is less compared to other careers that pay similar salaries. Overall, nursing as a career offers stable and secure job opportunities, competitive wages, room for career and education advancement, and fewer education charges.

Nursing is one of the few careers that offer multiple opportunities for flexibility in terms of scheduling, work settings, job sharing, and specialization. Registered nurses can get employed anywhere in the world. Flexibility is crucial in maintaining a work-life balance for nurses. A nurse can opt to work in hospitals, outpatient facilities, schools, military, or home health services. Out of the approximately 3 million nurses in the U.S., 60% work in medical institutions and specialty facilities like rehabilitation centers, private and public hospitals, and mental health centres (Reineck, 2016). The other 40% provide healthcare services in outpatient care centers and homes (Reineck, 2016). Nurses who work in educational facilities serve as educators. Legal offices and insurance companies can also employ them. There are hundreds of areas in which nurses can specialize. They can specialize in mental health, emergency medicine, women's health, to name a few. A nurse who has a Bachelor of Science in Nursing meets the requirements for many specialty nurse positions. Some of the areas that need a BSN are burn care and geriatrics.

Since hospitals have to be staffed for 24 hours a day, the staff has to be scheduled. Work shifts and day-offs are scheduled, depending on the expected demands (Reineck, 2016). Some facilities allow nurses to work full-time from September to May and to take summer breaks while still receiving full-time benefits. Some nurses prefer to work a few shifts in a week, others prefer taking night shifts, and others prefer to work two twelve-hour shifts on weekends. The scheduling flexibility allows nurses to pursue other endeavors. Job sharing will enable nurses to share one full-time job and benefits, thus allowing them to enjoy the flexibility that comes with part-time employment. Nurses seeking to expand their education can opt for job share.

Challenge and Solutions

Nurses who work for longer hours get more days off but experience some challenges. A study shows that 65% of nurses in hospitals work twelve-hour shifts. They discovered that nurses who worked longer hours experienced burnout, job dissatisfaction, decreased patient satisfaction, and 2.5 times more than the nurses who worked for eight hours (Lamadah, 2017). Besides, the mental functioning of the nurses decreases in the working hours. Sleepiness and fatigue increase the risk of accidents when working, depression, obesity, and cardiovascular diseases among nurses. Nurses who work 12 hours a shift experience a 37% higher accident risk rate than those who work for 8 hours (Lamadah, 2017). Medical mistakes are expensive as they may cause new health conditions in a patient or even death. Patients can sense when a nurse is frustrated and know when they are not receiving quality medical care. It can negatively affect the reputation of a hospital, and the patients are less likely to recommend the hospital to anyone else.

One solution to long working hours is limiting the shift length of nurses from 12 hours to eight or 10 hours (Butterworth et al., 2015). It can be passed as a regulation by the state's board of nursing or hospital, and it is the responsibility of nurse managers to ensure that the nurses adhere. The nurse managers should also respect when nurses refuse to work overtime and permit them to leave as soon as the end of their shift—thereby allowing the nurses to have ample time to sleep and rest. Adequate sleep has numerous benefits for nurses. They are improved memory and immune system, reenergizing, stimulated creativity, and mental and emotional fitness.

Alternatively, hospitals can restrict nurses who work 12-hour shifts from working for consecutive days. That way, they get ample time to reenergize before resuming work. During the 12 hours of work, nurses should be allowed to take 20 minutes of breaks to decrease fatigue (Butterworth et al., 2015). If hospitals implement this policy, the nurses will be more emotionally stable and mentally alert. It directly translates into better patient care, reduced rate of mistakes, and patient satisfaction.

Nurses are responsible for the day-to-day medical activities like checking for vital signs, updating medical records, conducting medical tests, and giving patients medicines. A career in nursing is emotionally rewarding in terms of compassion, appreciation, and camaraderie. Its financial benefits are stable and secure job opportunities, competitive salaries, room for career and education advancement, and lower education program costs. Nursing offers flexibility in terms of scheduling, work settings, job sharing, and specialization. However, long working hours affect the nurses, the quality of their work, and the patient's satisfaction. This can be solved by reducing the working hours of nurses to ensure that no nurse who works for 12 hours gets to work for consecutive days. It may take time to implement the changes, but it is crucial. In sum, nursing as a career has its fair share of benefits and challenges.

References

Butterworth, A., Jackson, C., Brown, E., Hessey, E., Fergusson, J., & Orme, M. (2015). Clinical academic careers for educators and researchers in nursing: some challenges and solutions. Journal of Research in Nursing, 10(1), 85-97.

Lamadah, S. M (2017). Challenges facing the nursing profession in the United States. Journal of Biology, Agriculture and Healthcare, 4(7), 20-25.

Reineck, C. (2016). Nursing career fulfillment: Statistics and statements from registered nurses. Nursing Economics, 23(1), 25-30.

Smyth, R. L. (2019). Evidence-Based Practice Manual for Nurses-E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences.