Why Nursing?

Are you considering nursing as a career but still looking for the right motivation? Nursing can be challenging but it is also immensely satisfying and inspiring. As a nurse you will find that no two days are the same and you will never have to worry that your career may leave you feeling uninspired, dissatisfied or unchallenged.

You will make a difference to people’s lives

One of the strongest motivating factors behind becoming a nurse is the difference you will make to people’s lives. As a nurse, you will have a tremendous impact on your patients’ health and wellbeing. In some specialties, such as helping someone with a learning disability, it may take a while to see results but if you work in specialties such as critical or emergency care, the results can be instantaneous. Either way, knowing that you played a part in making that positive change happen can be very rewarding. 

A nurse’s responsibilities are wide-ranging and far-reaching. It could involve:

Helping seriously ill patients recover to the fullest extent possible

Making critical interventions to save lives

Providing high quality palliative care for someone at the end of their life

Promoting healthier lifestyles

Leading a team of healthcare professionals in emergency situations

Helping mentally or physically challenged individuals gain essential life skills

Most of all, at the end of the day you will enjoy going home knowing that you’ve done something worthwhile and made a positive impact on several people’s lives.

You get to work in a wide range of places

While hospitals may be the biggest employer of nurses, even within a hospital setting there are several different specialties that you can choose from, depending on what appeals to you. There’s the fast-paced accident and emergency departments, burn wards and operating theatres at one end and the slower-paced obstetrics and gynaecology ward or the paediatric ward at the other.  

There are also several opportunities for nurses outside the hospital ward. Nurses today provide services to patients in their homes and at clinics, nursing homes, health centres and GP surgeries. You can also choose to work in schools, the armed forces, police stations and prisons or as a lecturer in a university.

Community nursing is another facet of nursing that’s a world away from hospital nursing. Community-based nurses work in any or all of the above settings during the course of a single day.

That’s not all. If you prefer to work in the independent sector you can choose between providing care to private school children or individual clients or you could provide occupational health services to corporate employees.

Your opportunities are not limited to the UK. Travel nursing or landing a job with a cruise line can open up a whole world of new opportunities and adventures along with excellent wages and perks that you would not find in any other job.

You enjoy a range of unique benefits

In addition to the immense job satisfaction, nurses enjoy a range of unique benefits including diverse and flexible working opportunities, competitive starting salaries, excellent career progression and numerous training and development opportunities. With so many benefits for those who choose this profession, the real question to be asked is, ‘why not nursing?’