What A Good Nursing Program Can Do For Your Future

The economic outlook today looks uncertain at best. Many industries are going through downsizing, and it’s hard to find a field of study where you are assured of having a stable career. But there is industry that is almost certain to grow at a healthy rate in the future; health care. And if you want to get into this growing and lucrative field, nursing school could be your ticket.

There are several reasons to consider getting into a nursing program, here are just four of the most obvious ones:

1. Good pay and benefits

When you become nurse, you will likely be one of the better paid people in your community. Depending on the type of nurse you become (LPN or RN) and the area of the country (or world) you work in, you may see a starting salary in the mid five figures. That’s not bad for only a couple years of schooling. Many young people today with four year liberal arts degrees end up on the unemployment line. And in addition to the pay, nurses usually get good benefits as well. Most of them have good health insurance plans and retirement packages.

2. Job stability

As mentioned above, the trends in the health care industry are quite favorable. With an ever-increasing elderly population, the need for nurses is only going to increase in the future. In an economy where there is so much uncertainty, you could hardly ask for a better career than nursing. And if the demographic trends are any indication, nursing jobs are expected to grow for at least the next few decades.

3. Flexibility in location

A close companion to job stability is location flexibility. Health care is going to be needed by everybody at some point in their lives, and it is needed in greater frequency by the elderly. This means that as the elderly population grows throughout the developed world, nurses have an abundance of choices for where they want to work. And if you like warm weather, you’re in luck, because elderly people prefer warm weather as well. Though jobs are abundant pretty much everywhere, they are especially easy to get in warmer climates with a high number of retirees like Florida and Arizona.

4. Rewarding work

Nursing is not only a good paying job with great benefits and career stability, it is also very rewarding work. Nurses make a true difference in the lives on hurting and sick people every day. Each day, you will have the opportunity to care for people who truly need your help and will appreciate you for it. Now, along with this comes a certain level of stress, and working in a fast-paced medical environment may not be for everybody. But if you’re the kind of person that is especially compassionate and enjoys taking care of people, then nursing may be right up your alley.

To get into the nursing field, you need to enter a nursing school that offers either an LPN program or RN program. LPN (licensed practical nursing) training goes one to two years and is the quickest way into a career as a nurse. RN (registered nurse) takes a couple years longer, but makes you a supervisory nurse with greater pay and more responsibility.