So You Want to Be a Nurse? How to Start a Successful Career in Nursing

Do you love helping people? Are you always looking for ways to take care of the people around you? Do you have a strong stomach when it comes to bodily fluids, including blood?

As long as you don’t mind working long hours and can multi-task like no other, you’d make a great nurse!

And right now, nursing is a great field for job security. In fact, current nurses have trouble getting time off — the nursing shortage is that bad. Do everyone a favor and learn about a career in nursing below.

Work as a Nurse: Different Certifications for Different People

You can spend anywhere from twelve weeks to eight years training to become a nurse. The longer you spend in school, the more you’ll get paid, and the more you’ll be able to do. We’re going over all the nursing options (and their abbreviations) below.

CNA: Certified Nursing Assistant

Becoming a CNA can take as little as four weeks, depending on the amount of time you can dedicate to classes. Many people who are training to be a nurse in college get this certification in high school.

CNA training is the cheapest of all the nursing program options, but nursing assistants are tasked with some of the hardest care-taking jobs. You’ll be cleaning bedpans, changing diapers, giving sponge baths, and everything else RNs are too busy to do.

While the world needs CNAs, be sure you’re comfortable performing these tasks. Most people are CNAs while they’re in other nursing-degree programs.

LPN or LVN: Licensed Practical or Vocational Nurse

These nursing degree types are the next level “up” from a CNA in terms of training and salary. Instead of a few weeks, LPNs take a year-long training and have to pass the NCLEX.

They’re allowed to do primary nursing care, which includes taking vital signs, charting, updating healthcare records, all the tasks a CNA can do, and (depending on the state) administering medication. If you’ve been to the doctor recently, it was likely an LPN who took your vitals and did your intake before you saw the nurse practitioner or doctor.

RN: Registered Nurse

When someone says, “I’m a nurse,” they’re likely an RN, which stands for registered nurse. This is a step up from an LPN or LVN, and training takes around two years. CNAs and Licensed nurses report to the RN in clinical settings.

RNs can start IVs, administer medication, officially monitor progress, create patient care plans for an MD’s approval, and provide care instructions to family members. They’re the physicians’ eyes and ears, and many doctors will take their recommendations without much of a second thought.

They can help in surgery with special training. Many nurses have to do some of their training at home, with kits like the ones from Medical Creations.

Your Career in Nursing: How to Work As a Nurse

There are three main nursing career opportunities that take two or fewer years to complete. You can also become a nurse by getting an undergraduate degree in nursing or even a master’s.

Training to be a nurse is hard work, but it prepares you for the long shifts and rewarding career in nursing ahead of you.

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