We all have a minimal idea of what our professional career will be before we start it, regardless of the chosen profession. In this case, we will talk about nursing. And the thing is that there are a lot of elements that you can imagine of that work, but you are not sure what it will be.
Being a nurse is a profession that takes a lot of time and therefore some moments of your life are sacrificed. Throughout our working lives, we discover things that were not explained or taught to us during our time as students. Here are 10 things you should expect from your job.
Working hours, perhaps the most important of all. Work days can be up to 12 hours a day. It will always depend on the center where you work, but it is usually on that schedule. You are used to working on your days off, short-staffed, or seeking treatment for patients from home, etc.
One thing that affects nursing care a lot is patient death. In college they don’t prepare you to see someone die, no matter if they are young or old, every nurse will be affected in some way. Over time, you learn to stay calm and deal with the death of a patient in a certain way.
As mentioned earlier, work hours are sometimes very long. They say a good tip for nurses is to eat a big breakfast because during on-duty or on-call hours you don’t know if you can stop for a snack.
Another important issue is the question of career prospects at the end of nursing studies. You cannot work only in hospitals or health centers. There are many professions in nursing. You can work as a nurse in a nursing home, in a correctional facility, as a home nurse, or in research and teaching.
Another very important matter is continuing education. Health professionals in general need to keep up to date. In this case there are specialization courses for nurses and thanks to them you can keep abreast of new techniques or new developments that are emerging, or so access to other jobs and gain more experience.
As a nurse you must have or acquire an excellent memory. You have to know where every medicine is, every working tool, because in an emergency, time is the most precious thing and this way you can save lives.
A social error is to think that nurses are auxiliary to physicians, which is not true. A nurse and a physician must work together as a team to treat patients and, in some cases, nurses treat and collaborate more with the patient than with the physicians themselves.
One thing that happens in the healthcare world is that no matter how many years you’ve been in the industry, you’ll never see everything. There will always be a new case that has never been treated. Never say never.
There are times when patients are in a depressed mood and dealing with them one-on-one can be difficult. Therefore, nurses must be patient and know how to deal with all types of patients because it will not always be easy.
Even if you have studied nursing and are dedicated to it, depending on the center you work in, you will progress to other types of professions, particularly in administration. However, that doesn’t mean you won’t work as a caregiver.
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