Question 1
I was particularly surprised at the huge difference between the career descriptions of a registered nurse and that of a licensed practical and licensed vocational nurse as well as the difference in their pay and job education requirements. For example, I established from my research that the vocational and practical nurses work under the directions of a registered nurse or doctor. Similarly, the median pay for the two jobs was unexpectedly huge. While the licensed vocational nurses and the licensed practical nurses earned in the range of $43, 000, the registered nurses earned in the tune of close to $70,000 in the same period.
Question 2
There are a variety of positions in the nursing career field including chiropractors, dental hygienists, optometrists, psychiatric aides and physician assistants.
Question 3
Of the jobs available in the nursing field, I was fascinated by the role of a psychiatric aide. The reasons for this include my desire to help people with mental illnesses as well as people going through difficult times in their life. Recently, the government has laid great emphasis on preventive care and as such, roles in the nursing field are bound to be many and well-paying. As a registered nurse, it would be a pleasure to work in the role of counselling patients to undertake preventive care as opposed to waiting till when they are ill.
Question 4
Registered and licensed nurses are needed in a number of facilities including the military, hospitals, nursing homes, and schools and the rehabilitation centres especially those dealing with mentally ill people. They can also work as assistants in physicians’ offices.
Question 5
Careers in the nursing field require extensive studies to, apart from accustoming one with the jargon, keep up with emerging trends in the sector. Specifically, however, I shall start with learning interpersonal skills noting that the field requires immense interaction with people and communities. Secondly, I will need to train further in the area of psychiatrist care noting that there are new challenges in the field due to increasing levels of stress, especially among the young people.
Question 6
I plan on taking internship and assistantship positions at available outlets as well as undertake volunteer roles in major hospitals and rehabilitation centres to familiarize myself with the roles of nurses ahead of my career in the field. As part of learning my interpersonal skills, I hope to increase my interaction with people both at the class level and during my internships. I also hope to take on a short course on interpersonal relationships noting the importance of the same in a career as a registered nurse.
Question 7
I am indeed more interested in a nursing career than I were before visiting the sites. Firstly, it is my passion to serve the community, and I feel that a career in the nursing field is a wonderful opportunity for the same. Secondly, from the pay depicted in the sites I visited, America is among the nations with the best pay for nurses in the whole world (Aiken, Linda et al e1717). The sites also project that due to the government’s insistence on preventive care especially under Obama Care Act, the demand for nurses is bound to go up in the coming years (Huntington, et al E35). In an era faced with rampant employment, getting into a career that nearly certainly guarantees a job is reason enough to encourage one to consider the career.
Works cited
Aiken, Linda H., et al. "Patient safety, satisfaction, and quality of hospital care: cross sectional surveys of nurses and patients in 12 countries in Europe and the United States." Bmj 344 (2012): e1717.
Huntington, W. V., et al. "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010: reforming the health care reform for the new decade." Pain Physician 14.1 (2011): E35-E67.
