Meeting lots of interesting people, being constantly busy and swept off your feet, and being able to make a genuine difference in the world within which you live; there are so many benefits out there to becoming a nurse. Nonetheless, becoming a successful nurse can be extremely difficult, especially considering the many trials and tribulations people face in the industry, with many interesting case examples emerging during the coronavirus pandemic, which gave hospitals all across the country some of the biggest difficulties in recent years.
With that said, becoming a successful, well-paid nurse is definitely a possible and tangible goal to aim for. The trick is, naturally, knowing all the tips and tricks of the trade in order to make sure that you are as successful as possible. If you are interested in the steps that you should be taking in order to become a successful nurse, then it is definitely recommended to read the rest of this guide, which has been created for your viewing pleasure, below. Read on now to understand more. Nonetheless, you first might be asking yourself:
What Does a Nurse Do?
Before you can think about becoming a nurse, you have to understand exactly what a nurse does. Simply put, a registered nurse is a crucial part of any hospital or clinical setting. They are responsible for observing patients, preparing them for the doctor, recording their information, updating their files, making sure that they are calm when they are in the middle of their treatment, creating a care plan, giving people medication, treating wounds, collecting samples for the lab and being able to communicate the needs of the patient and their treatment with their wider family.
If you are interested in this type of job, it’s exciting to know that the average salary for a nurse is just over $73,000 a year. This is a number that can rise, not only considering the fact that salaries are rising in general but one that you can personally improve if you manage to get promoted to a more senior position.
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Get The Necessary Qualifications
Given the fact that nurses deal in a medical setting, they have to be fully qualified in order to practice. This means that if you want to be a nurse, you should follow the three key steps that have been written below.
Step One: Get a Degree
One of the most important steps, when you are looking to become a nurse, is to get a bachelor’s degree in nursing. This is the first crucial step that you need to take in order to achieve your dream of making it. It’s worth pointing out that tuition fees can be rather expensive, especially if you attend one of these ten expensive private medical schools. Afterward, you may think that you would be set to get to work right away, but afterward, you should:
Step Two: Take the NCLEX Exam
Accreditation is essential if you won’t actually want to ensure that you are able to practice as a nurse. The way in order to achieve this is to take the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses, known by people in the business as NCLEX. It is a key test in order to make sure that you are fit for the purpose of nursing. It is worth pointing out that if you fail, you will then have to wait around 45 days before you can take it again, so you should make sure that you study as hard as possible in order to become a success.
Stage Three: Get a State License
The laws in the USA differ per state. The world of nursing is no exception. This means that once you pass the national council licensure examination for registered nurses, you should be looking towards getting a license in the state in which you will be operating. Every single state will have its own requirements, so you should definitely be taking a look around for what you need to do in your own state.
Get Additional Training
Once you have completed the three steps that have been required of you, you will then be a registered nurse. Nonetheless, if you are looking for further career advancement, then you should definitely look to move into different specializations. The different specializations that you can expect nurses to move into include, but are not limited to:
- Healthcare Management Nurse
- Cardiac Nurse
- Nurse Anaesthetist
- Clinical Nurse Specialist
- Midwife
- Military Nurse
- Gynaecology Nursing
- Gastroenterology Nursing
- Forensic Nursing Theatre Nurse
- Geriatric Nurse
- Family Nurse Practitioner
- A&E Nurse
- Critical Care Nurse
- Nurse Specialist for Safeguarding & Public Protection
- Diabetes Specialist Nurse
- Dermatology Nurse
- Mental Health Nurse
- Research Nurse
- Case Management Nurse
- Complementary Health Nurse
- Prison Nurse
- Learning Disability Nurse
- Adult Nurse
- Children’s Nurse
- District Nurse
- Neonatal Nurse
- GP Nurse
- Nursing Associate
It’s worth researching every single different type of specialization until you are able to figure out which one is the right one for you. If. If you are looking to get a job that allows you to make a salary of over $100,00 a year, then it is definitely a good idea to look for an MBA in Healthcare Management. For a great recommendation, it’s worth considering the fact that Walsh ranks at the top for MBAs in Healthcare Management.
Fight Against Burnout
Burnout is one of the chief concerns that people working in healthcare face. This is something that has been rising in awareness due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Simply put, burnout is something that occurs when you work too hard, and you do not have enough time to rest. This can actually be rather difficult when you are employed as a nurse because you will naturally have to work rather long hours. Nonetheless, you should still be making sure that when you are off from work, you are allowing yourself to indulge in “me” time. Without doing this, you are likely to find it very hard to recharge and do a good job when you go back to work.
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Work on Your People Skills
When you are working as a nurse, you will be meeting all different kinds of people. These often can be people who are under a lot of stress as they have medical needs that have to be attended to. As a result, you need to be improving your people skills — important in basically any organization — also known as one of those classic soft skills that might not be adequately covered in medical school. There are a whole series of ways out there that you can work on improving your people skills. Take a look at the list below in order to learn all about it:
- Talking To People About What They are Interested In
- Taking Additional Training Course
- Show Kindness and Compassion
- Learn to Listen at All Times
- Show That You Appreciate People
- Understand Core Values
- Treat People With Respect
- Stay Authentic
- Stay Calm
- Build Confidence
- Attend Conferences
- Have a Positive Attitude
- Understand Body Language
- Speak Directly
- Be Open in Communication
It is likely that there are many other points that you can take if you want to have great interpersonal skills. It’s worth doing a lot of your own personal research in order to make sure that you are able to understand all the different parts that make sure that you are a successful nurse.
Have The Right Mentors
If you want to make sure that you are the best possible nurse in the business, then you need to make sure that you are careful as possible with who you choose to mingle with in the settings within which you work. In this respect, it is so important to make sure that you find the right mentors. Having the right mentor can help you to move forward in the business and to learn from the top brass about the best steps that you can take. It is likely that if you choose this path, you will also be able to learn about the interesting parts of the medical industry from people who have been through it all before. You should be able to see who is interesting in your job before asking them if you are able to talk to them about what the best practices in a medical setting could be.
Conclusion
It has been the express aim of this guide to arm you with all the necessary information when it comes to becoming a successful nurse. As you can see from the guide that has been written below, there are a lot of trials and tribulations that can be involved with being a nurse. Nonetheless, if you are able to get through them, you will find that it is actually a rather rewarding process in the end. It’s worth pointing out that, due to the complexity of involved in becoming a nurse, this guide cannot be completely exhaustive. This means that you should be doing your own independent research in order to guarantee complete success when you study as a nurse. Finally, good luck in your quest to finally become the best nurse possible.
