Great Nursing Career OpportunitiesHappening Now!

As the economy continues to struggle, nursing remains one of the fastest growing and demand skill sets in the health care today. The retiree population over the next 6-12 years will force nursing to grow as a popular career and continued need. This means many nursing career opportunities for people searching for a job or people changing careers. If you are not sure what opportunities exist in nursing, this article will define the opportunities to give you a general idea. • Across the entire US, there is an estimated 120,000+ nursing jobs open. Granted these are in varying capacities, as well as skill requirements. Experts agree that the need will exceed this as baby boomers continue to retire. • As stated above, opportunities to continue to expand as traveling nurses and home health care options become greater. Currently, the most common need for nurses are still in hospitals, physician offices and outpatient care facilities. • A few degree programs to consider as you're doing your research are as follows: Associates Degree in Nursing – An Associates Nursing Degree is offered at many community colleges. We also found online education opportunities as well. Typically, the Associates Degree in Nursing is a 2 to 3 year program. Bachelor in Nursing – The BN is a four year program offered more at the university level. Right now, the Bachelors of Nursing graduates have the greatest career opportunities in the nursing field. However, it is more expensive to pursue this degree program. Licensed Practical Nurse – an LPN is typically under the direct supervision of an RN or MD. • Finding the best nursing job may require you to move to an area that is in greater need of nurses. But, don't look at this as a negative. Many times, someone with a nursing degree has the flexibility to see more of the country – all paid for by their career in nursing. • You may also want explore specialties in nursing, such as: pediatrics, surgical, PeriAnesthiesia and Informatics. Nurses increase their training in a specialized area will make more money in the long run. • Most importantly – do your research. Finding the right education is the most important step in starting your career in nursing!

Read more...

Discovering a Career in Nursing

Nursing Roles Multiple levels of nursing give you ample options to develop a nursing career. Nursing aides and assistants do the most basic kinds of work. Licensed practitioner nurses (LPNs) have greater responsibilities such as monitoring medical equipment, supervising aides, and taking samples for analysis. Registered nurses (RNs) are the largest group of health care individuals with more than 2.5 million RNs in the U.S. according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). RNs can create health plans for patients as well as contribute to the current plans. They consult with doctors and other clinicians as well as direct LPNs and nursing attendants. RNs can specialize in a variety of areas such as working with specific population segments or specific diseases and ailments. • The Big Health Boom One of the main benefits of being a nurse is simply being able to help people heal and overcome disease or discomfort. According to projections by the BLS, over a half of a million new RN jobs will be created between 2006 and 2016. This growth suggests that nurses should enjoy job stability as well as find a range of career options. Because of the recent nursing faculty shortage, there are opportunities for nurses to become teachers. Some hospitals and other organizations offer subsidies for education and signing bonuses to attract nurses. • Prepping for a Nursing Career Home health aides and nursing aides often only need on-the-job training, but most other nursing careers require a higher level of education as well as certification. RN to BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) degree programs can help individuals get the education they need, and RN to MSN (Master of Science in Nursing) degree programs are also available. Individuals can also continue their education to earn doctorates in nursing (DNP=Doctor of Nursing Practice). Terminal nursing degrees are generally practice-focused or research-focused. The doctorate degree prepares an individual to join nursing faculty ranks or work on health care policy issues in larger organizations. • If helping people heal is important to you, a career in nursing can be a great long-term move to bring you financial stability and personal rewards.

About the Author: Kelli Smith is the senior editor for www.Edu411.org. Edu411.org lists Nursing Schools as well as other health care related career schools. Schools listed offer free information packages and admissions consultation.

Read more...

Getting Your Nursing CareerStarting on the Web

Using the Internet to start your nursing career can certainly gives you numerous advantages over previous decades. The Internet plays host to hundreds of online courses and degree programs in the field of nursing. Nursing career web site searches will provide over a million results. Sites like ours strive to provide general information about sources that provide nursing training and degree programs. • One of the keys to finding the right resources is to know how to search for specifics. In other words, if you live in Texas, you might try searching for "nursing careers in Texas". You may also want to try searching even more specific terms, such as "Dallas nursing careers". Creating search terms more specific to your area give you the best opportunity to find relevant resource web sites. • As you search your specific area, you'll probably notice many job posting sites. It's great to take a look at the specific job requirements because it can provide valuable insight to what kind of nursing degree will be required. It also gives you a general idea of what nursing jobs in your area might pay and what kind of career advancement opportunities are available to nurses. • The Texas Nursing Career Insider suggest setting up bookmark folders for your research. You may want to bookmark job sites in one folder and possibly annual job fairs in another; nursing career advice sites in another folder and so on. Using the power of the Internet will give you a better sense of what direction you want to take your nursing career.

Read more...

Nursing Salaries for Recent Graduates

If you're considering a career in nursing, you probably want to know what kind of salary range you can expect. Beyond financial gain from being a nurse, there are many other advantages. One of the major advantages most nursing students enjoy, is the fact they can move anywhere to be a nurse. Whether you decide to move or simply decide to pursue your career where you're at now, you'll find as your experience increases, so will your salary. Large cities like Dallas, Houston and Austin hold the top position for the number of nursing jobs available. The larger cities in Texas, not only have higher salaries and better benefits for their nurses, but greater networking advantages. The salaries mentioned in this article are to be used as a guideline and to give you a general idea of the salary range that currently exists. Each hospital will be unique in what type of salary is offered depending on the nurses qualifications and prior nursing experience. Generally speaking, we have seen salaries in the range of $40,000 to nearly $62,000 annually. Other nursing salary studies have reported staff RNs average a median base salary of $41,600. Just over half of the nurses in the US are expected to earn between $38,750 to nearly $44,900, according to Internet resources. Reports go on to state that 67% of nurses are employed in hospital inpatient and outpatient environments and 32% of nurses are employed in medical offices and clinics, nursing homes, schools and home healthcare services. There's no doubt that nursing is an in-demand service that will provide financial benefits with ongoing education and experience.

Read more...

The Associate Nursing Degree:A Great Way to Get Started!

Let's face it, the profession of nursing will never go out of demand. That's probably why you're doing nursing career research now, right? A career in nursing, or any medical field, can be challenging. But with the challenging education and hard work to get a degree, comes many, many rewards in helping people across the country and even the world. • A great way to start! An associates degree in nursing can be a great first step to a long and rewarding career in nursing. Whether you want to specialize in pediatrics or elder care, an associates degree in nursing will help you decide if you truly want to commit to a career in nursing. An associates degree also gives you a good opportunity to impress an other school you may want to attend after your associates degree. For example, you'll have a much better start in continuing your education and moving on to a bachelor's degree in nursing if you start out with an associates degree. • Earning a nursing degree today is very accessible. You can earn your associate nursing degree by attending a campus-based college or with the assistance of an online college. Using an online college to earn your nursing degree can very convenient, especially if you are working. However, you feel you'll have a lot of questions, you may want to stick to a campus-based college. Also, the campus-based college gives you the opportunity to network with others. • The online degree can be very beneficial because it gives you a lot of flexibility in your schedule. An online degree is a great way to go if you are trying to transition from another career as well. You'll be able to keep your current work schedule and still move toward a career in nursing. The online degree also gives you the opportunity to work from anywhere that has an Internet connection. There's no doubt that online degrees have become incredibly popular – just look at our sponsors! • So what can an associates degree in nursing do you you? An associate nursing degree will enable you to work in any hospital, any nursing facility and under any doctor. The associates degree acts as a foundation, as well as giving you the opportunity to evaluate nursing as a career. • In the current stress economy, many people are turning to the medical field to gain job security. The demand for nurses in very high and all projections predict that the demand will stay high as the baby boomers need more care. • So what can you expect to be paid as a nurse? Nurses typically enjoy a great salary and benefits. and entry level position with a nursing degree will pay in the $45,000 to $49,000 range annually. Becoming a nurse also gives you more opportunity to work more often, which means you can make even more money. Keep in mind, the medical profession is a 24/7 business. Nurses are need at all hours of the day – everyday!

Read more...

Choosing a Nursing Degree

The following article is written by Suzanne Verita, the owner of StartNursing.com, a successful nursing resource site. Suzanne explores and raises some interesting questions to ask yourself as you're starting your career in nursing. Enjoy!

If you decide to get a degree in nursing, there are many things you need to know and consider first. Choosing your nursing school may not be as easy as you expect. There is research that needs to go into it to be sure you get the best school available to you. You are going to want to look into different college programs, where they are located, how much they cost, what degrees they offer as well as information about scholarships and more to help you make an informed decision about which is best for you. • Getting your nursing degree is no cakewalk. It won’t be easy, especially if you have to keep a job or if you have a family and children to take care of. However, if you push yourself, you will be very happy with the end result. It is a profession that is very rewarding and fulfilling. • There are many different options for you in the nursing profession. It is a very diverse field that offers you many different departments to work in. You can work hands-on with patients or you might want to work in a lab or research facility. You might choose to work in a specific field such as OB-GYN or Pediatrics. You can go into the field that interests you the most. The options are vast for you. • If you are working on getting the perfect school for nursing, you need to also consider what specialty you plan on doing – if you have one. This will help you get the right degree. Most nursing programs have very generalized programs but you may have the option to add on extras if you choose such as in a specific field. • Nursing is an excellent career choice. There are many different options for you to advance over the years or even to change your field if you chose to. With nursing, you get the opportunity to work with a large variety of people. You will generally have good working conditions and good pay. You also have personal satisfaction that you are helping someone or being productive with your life. It is a very rewarding career. • It’s easy to find a great job in nursing. There are so many places in your area that need nurses. You should call the local hospitals, clinics and other medical offices to see if they have openings. You can also use the Internet to your advantage since you can apply for jobs online and also look up information about a particular job you are interested in.

About the Author: Suzanne Verita is the owner of Start Nursing which is a premier source of information about nursing. For more information, go to: http://startnursing.com

Read more...