While nursing is a high-paying job with immense career potential, it is certainly not an easy one. Nursing is a complex occupation that requires an amalgamation of hard work, passion, and extreme patience. If you are interested in taking up a career in healthcare and medicine, remember that this field requires immense dedication. However, several signs indicate that nursing is your “meant-to-be” profession.
The diversity in nursing
The field of nursing is highly diverse. You can choose from a variety of subcategories. Once you complete your BSN, you aren’t required to just work in a hospital. Instead, you could choose to work in a home, school, office or as a public health nurse. You could even choose to be a travel nurse! This is great for people who like to travel. These nurses get assigned new clinical units (cities or countries apart) based on a schedule.
You could even opt to become a psychiatric nurse practitioner who deals with patients suffering from mental health disorders. These nurses work closely with psychiatrists and other mental healthcare professionals.
As of recently, public health nursing has become a point of interest for many nursing students. The demand for public health nurses has significantly increased, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic. So you might be wondering what is a PHN? A public health nurse is a healthcare professional that aims to work for an entire population instead of one patient at a time. They aim to educate people about diseases and related factors like exposure and prevention methods.
However, you may have doubts about whether or not you are destined to be a nurse. Here are some points that indicate nursing might be your calling.
- People Feel Comfortable Around You
Do you feel that people find it easy to open up to you? Do you quickly make friends and can have deep conversations? Making others feel comfortable around you is one of the most crucial skills needed to become a nurse. If your friends think you’re the most trustworthy one in the group, then nursing may be your calling. As a nurse, you have to meet different people with unique personalities every single day. If you build that level of trust with patients and put them at ease, they will confide in you and make the nursing process a lot more fruitful. This trait makes it easier to perform treatments and gets you good reviews and feedback once you discharge your patients.
- You are Good At Listening
Have you noticed that people often approach you whenever they are in a crisis? Do your friends and family tell you that you are a good listener? Listening is an excellent way to have your patients open up to you. As a nurse, it is one’s duty to intently listen to everything the patient says while noticing what they don’t say. By acquiring a patient’s trust, the nurse can abstract personal medical information without much hassle. Patients feel more comfortable and are more honest with their nurses when they think they are actually listening to them.
- The Sight of Blood, Vomit and Other Bodily Excretions Do Not Disgust You
When working in a medical facility, it is a given that there will be several unpleasant sights. If you feel uneasy and faint at the sight of blood, vomit, urine etc., nursing is probably not the right career for you. However, if you are thick-skinned and won’t get disgusted, you may be perfect for the job. Nurses have to clean up and dress wounds while dealing with patients suffering from all sorts of diseases. While experience does make the process a bit easier, prior willingness is also needed. Be prepared to control your nausea in front of things like cysts, deep open wounds and large amounts of blood.
- You’re Great At Multitasking and Can Work Under Pressure
Are you someone who enjoys multitasking and can perform several tasks easily? Multitasking is a crucial skill for many nurses considering just how busy a hospital can get. There are multiple patients to deal with, and at times you might need to deal with more than one within minutes. Moreover, a nurse needs to be patient through issues, like dealing with different people and distressing situations. Many patients can prove to be quite frustrating. Patience is required so nurses can keep their cool and adequately focus on the tasks at hand. If you get overwhelmed during stressful situations while multitasking, nursing may not be an ideal career choice.
- You Have a Great Eye For Detail
Would you consider yourself a perfectionist? Keeping an eye out for minor details is an essential trait for a nurse. Nurses have to stay alert and maintain a detailed list of everything that is happening. Anything that goes unnoticed may become life-threatening for the patient. If you have a knack to spot little details such as misplaced items on your vanity or specks of dust on an apparently clean table, you could do well in nursing. Of course, this trait alone is not an assurance that you will thrive as a nurse.
- Uncomfortable Circumstances Don’t Bother You
Often as a nurse, you must pull through many uncomfortable circumstances. Firstly you have to work with a tight schedule that is constantly changing. You may be called in during midnight or very early in the morning for emergencies. You have to be on your feet moving from room to room. A nurse must also get used to sleeping on benches and other locations to make things work. If you can handle such situations without stress and don’t mind these circumstances, you are ideal for this role.
- You Are Skilled In Maths And Science
Many people tend to overlook the academic perspective of nursing. This job requires an excellent knowledge of Science and Math. You will need to calculate blood sugar levels, approximately measure the dosage a patient needs, and smartly understand the side effects of medication for each person. Nurses exercise their comprehensive medical knowledge and help out many doctors during surgeries this way. If you enjoy complex mathematical problems and love science, nursing maybe your career calling.
Final Thoughts
Being a nurse places a huge responsibility on your shoulders; it’s a literal matter of someone’s life and death! So while the idea of a well-respected job and high pay is tempting, it is necessary to understand the complexity of this job and the amount of work that goes into it. If you possess all of the traits mentioned in this article, it might be time to consider a career in nursing.