Advantages of Being a Registered Nurse

The advantages of being a registered nurse are many and not always apparent until you become a registered nurse. Throughout the process of school and obtaining your degree, you learn not only how the body functions but the root cause of disease in the body. You learn prevention as well as management of disease. Armed with an understanding of the health care system, you can easily advise patients as well as family members. A new nurse graduate must be prepared, however, because once you enter nursing school, family and friends will turn to you as the "expert." Your shingle is out!

Anatomy and Physiology Knowledge

• As a registered nurse, you understand the anatomy of the body and how it works. From simple medical terms to complex functions at the cellular level, an RN's knowledge allows her more peace of mind when dealing with a medical issue than it does the average layperson. As a registered nurse, you are able to anticipate the pathophysiology of disease, and therefore, are able to explain it to your patients and family members in a coherent, concise and knowledgeable manner. In other words, you may speak with authority on medical issues.

Medication Knowledge

• As a registered nurse, you have an intricate knowledge of how medications act on the body, what side effects to anticipate, what adverse effects to monitor for, what lab values may be altered by the medication and even what foods to avoid with the medication. You also learn what other medications cannot be combined with the primary medication. You also have resources that provide information on normal dosage levels and the patient teaching that is needed when the medication is prescribed. This knowledge proves invaluable when lab values must be monitored and interpreted before certain medications are given.

Autonomy in Work

• Much of an RN's job is based on the decisions she makes, independently of a doctor. Doctors write orders for treatment as well as medications, but a registered nurse has complete autonomy over whether or not they will be carried out. Frequently, a patient's status changes, and it would be unwise to carry out the doctor's wishes in their strictest form. An RN must make decisions based on a patient's vital signs and physical condition at the moment. She has to take into account lab values and sometimes even the patient's state of mind. An RN documents the reasons for her actions in the nurses' notes.

Job Security

• People will always get sick and seek out advice and treatment from an RN Nurse Practitioner. Cheaper than a doctor's appointment and more accessible than the doctor, the RN's work as a Nurse Practitioner is monitored by a physician most of the time. In poorer areas of the country--like the Appalachian Region--a registered nurse has complete autonomy. Job security is also available because there is a nursing shortage. This shortage has been more prevalent in large metropolitan areas for years and is spreading to medium and smaller cities. The nursing shortage is so prevalent in many parts of the southern half of the United States that some southern hospitals recruit nurses from the north and pay them astronomical salaries that enable these nurses to work only a few months out of the year.

Ability to Travel

• In addition to the above-mentioned travel opportunity, being a registered nurse affords you the ability to live anywhere in the country and be able to secure employment. Many hospitals also pay for relocation expenses and reimburse the cost of nursing loans. These incentives require a signed contract for a definitive period of time. In addition to a long-term move, a registered nurse may enter the travel nursing workforce, usually after one to two years of work as a nurse in a hospital. Travel nurse companies pay for housing and utilities and bonuses if the nurse completes the entire assignment, and they also offer medical benefits. The usual requirement for travel nursing is that you must work 75 miles from your home. Travel nurses are used in every state, so if you wish to move to a warmer climate in the winter, such as California, Arizona or even Hawaii, it is possible to do so.

Good Salary

• Although nursing salaries vary from region to region, the average salary of a registered nurse is between the high $30,000s to low $40,000s, with some earning as high as $70,000 to $90,000. Nurses with advanced degrees such as a Certified Nurse Anesthetist have a starting salary of more than six figures. With these nursing salaries, come medical benefits which are worth thousands themselves.