While there’s a lot of people who say that nursing was all they ever wanted to do, there’s also a lot of people who doubled back and thought otherwise (including myself!). There are many barriers to commit nursing as a number one career choice. One of the biggest hurdles is our conformity to society. What do our parents, family, friends, and society think about our career choice?
I know personally that I had pressure. I know many male nurses receive a certain pressure too. I know that many immigrants who may look down on nursing get that pressure. Even patients will ask, why nursing?
People get an image in their head and continue to apply that to everyone. A female should be a nurse, a male should be a doctor, some immigrants may think nursing is not a noble profession but rather a dirty one (mostly because of how the nursing profession is portrayed in other countries). We have to break free of these stereotypes and see nursing for what it really is.
Nursing is one of those fields where you get to make a difference in someone’s life everyday– where you combine the science and the art. You will make sure that someone will receive the best possible care, and in the safest way. And when that doesn’t happen, you will start an investigation questioning why that is and what can be done differently.
When we start to have a diverse group of nurses, different ideas abound, different strengths surface, and as a whole, nursing gets stronger.
You can jump over these hurdles by thinking about what is nursing, and how nursing is such an amazing and vast field. There are so many choices and different ways you can contribute, touch another and be touched. You can in one direction and go up as high as you want, or expand horizontally and try out different fields of nursing. You can choose to be by the bedside, or an administration, in research, in an insurance company, etc. Wherever you decide to grow, just go for it. Say it out loud and proud and you will gain social support.
I got in touch with the author of the Top RN to BSN website, who suggested that I include this infographic below on the Second Career Nurse. She did her research and learned more about the characteristics of the Second Career Nurse. I thought it was informative so here it is! If you look at the graph below, you will see that in 2012, 1 in 3 nursing grads are from accelerated nursing degrees.
Now, I have some questions for you as the reader. What made you change your career and how did you get your support for switching into nursing? Comment below to start a discussion. I look forward to chatting with you.
Jess
Second career nurses are solving the nursing crisis.
Source: The Second Career Nurse