Nursing job overview:

• 60 percent of registered nurses work in hospitals.
• There are more than 2.6 million nurses in the United States.
• On average, registered nurses make $62,000 a year.

What do nurses do?

It ain’t just fluffing pillows and waiting on doctor’s orders. Nurses do a lot of the same things doctors do – and then some.

According to the BLS (the Bureau of Labor Statistics) nurses not only treat patients who are sick and injured, they offer advice and emotional support to patients and their families, take care of paperwork (lots and lots of paperwork), help doctors diagnose patients and provide advice and follow-up care.

That’s right, there’s a lot more to nursing than meets the eye. It’s one of the hardest and most emotionally draining jobs out there. Got a weak stomach? Then consider a different career, my friend. Nurses have to deal with terribly sick people – and that often involves various bodily fluids.

How much do nurses make?

Registered nurses who work at hospitals make $63,000 a year, on average. Those who choose to work at nursing homes or with a home healthcare service make around $58,000. That’s pretty good money, right? We hate to be cheesy, but the real reward is the feeling you’ll get by helping those who need you.

What are the education requirements to be a nurse?

If you want to be a nurse, you’ve got a bunch of schooling in your future. Think about it. Do you know how to intubate a person? Or run an IV? Us neither. Learning those things takes schooling and practice.

There are two common ways to become an RN. You can get a bachelor of science degree in nursing (BSN) or an associate’s degree in nursing (ADN). BSN programs, offered by colleges and universities, take about 4 years to complete. ADN programs, offered by community and junior colleges, take about 2 to 3 years. After graduating from one of these programs (and taking your local licensing boards), you’ll qualify for an entry-level position as a staff nurse.

Career paths for nurses

Most nurses start out as staff nurses at a hospital. Master the art of reading a doctor’s handwriting and you could move on to a better shift or a shift management role. After that nurses can advance to assistant unit manager or head nurse. Get an advanced degree and you could find yourself as an assistant director, director, vice president, or chief of nursing.

The future of nurse jobs

According to the BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics), job opportunities for nurses are growing at a better than average pace. Job prospects will be the best for nurses who choose to work in doctors’ offices.

A guide to nursing degree programs

Once upon a time, there was only one kind of nurse: the kind that wore little white hats and sensible shoes. Now, nursing is a vast, specialized and fast-growing field. If you’re tough, compassionate and don’t quaver at the sight of blood, a nursing career might be right for you. Let’s take a look at the different types of nursing jobs and degrees.

Certified nursing assistants perform the most basic kind of nursing care: bathing, dressing, monitoring and helping patients. No degree is required to become a CNA – all you need is certification from a CNA training program.

A quick path to a nursing career is getting a degree as a licensed practical nurse (LPN). The training to become an LPN typically takes only one year, which means you can get to work sooner. Online LPN degrees are a fast and flexible way to do this. LPNs work under the supervision of a doctor or a registered nurse monitoring patients, administering medication and injections and assisting with tests and procedures. LPNs, who are called licensed vocational nurses in California and Texas, often work home health care jobs and jobs in nursing facilities.

If you want to take on more responsibilities and make more money, you can become a registered nurse, or RN. RNs do everything LPNs do, but they also supervise other nurses and may take a more active role in planning patient care. There are about 2.5 million registered nurse jobs in America and the number of RNs needed is only expected to grow. You can become a registered nurse with a two-year associate degree, a nursing diploma or a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. Many colleges offer an online LPN to RN degree program for working LPNs.

If you find you love nursing, you may want to become an expert in your field by studying advanced practice nursing. With a master’s degree, RNs can become nurse practitioners. Nurse practitioners diagnose and treat illnesses and help patients manage chronic conditions like diabetes and hypertension.

There are several other kinds of advanced practice nurses. Certified nurse midwives handle mothers’ prenatal care and deliver babies. Clinical nurse specialists focus on specific areas of health care, such as oncology, mental health, obstetrics and gynecology or neonatology. Like watching people sleep? You could become a certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA). These nurses monitor patients in the operating room to make sure they’re safely unconscious and stable during surgery.

Not sure exactly what kind of nurse you’d like to become? Start with the basics and get your CNA certification or LPN degree online. You’ll soon figure out what you love most about nursing – and then you can continue your nursing education.

Surprising careers you can get with a nursing degree

Getting an online degree in nursing qualifies you for a whole host of careers – not just working in a hospital. The medical field is growing by leaps and bounds and the demand for qualified workers is always high, so your nursing degree could take you places you never dreamed.

If you are outgoing, upbeat, and have a natural flair for getting people to do what you want, consider a career in pharmaceutical sales. You’ll be the face of a certain brand of medicine – and will need to be an expert on how drugs work. You’ll also maintain and seek out new relationships with doctors and pharmacists, provide customer service and participate in industry trade shows. You’ll travel a lot but will have a flexible schedule and may even be allowed to work from home.

Another career field that someone with an online degree in nursing might enjoy is medical writing. If you’ve got a passion for writing and love learning about new breakthroughs in medicine, this job could be for you. Depending on where you work, you could write articles about healthy eating, new cancer research or medical treatment guidelines. You could end up writing for a prestigious medical magazine or lend your expertise to a blog. Perhaps you’ll be hired by a local hospital to write their monthly newsletter. Or you could end up freelancing for all of the above! Just make sure you love writing and are deadline oriented.

Perhaps you really want to be a practicing nurse – but you don’t want to be stuck at just one hospital. Then consider becoming a travel nurse. A travel nurse takes on temporary assignments across the country for a few months at a time. This is a high-paying position; registered nurses can make up to $40 per hour and housing is usually paid for by your employer. Traveling nurses can work just about anywhere, from critical care facilities to cruise ships. Many are asked to help out at teaching hospitals or rural locations where the area hospital is understaffed. If you’re outgoing, make friends easily and have a sense of adventure, this job may be for you.

The first step toward these exciting careers could be an online nursing degree. Get free information here.

From CNA to RN, here’s how to become a nurse

So you’re thinking about becoming a nurse. That’s a smart career choice! The demand for nurses is expected to keep rising. Between 2006 and 2016, employment of registered nurses will rise by 25 percent; jobs for LPNs (licensed practical nurses) will increase by 13 percent; and the need for nursing aides will increase by 18 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nurses make good money, too. On average, licensed practical nurses make $19.28 per hour, while registered nurses earn $31.31 an hour.

It’s not easy to become an RN, however. You’ll need a nursing degree, certification and years of experience. (If you work full-time, some online nursing degrees are available.) Here’s how to start your nursing career.

Step 1: Ask yourself if nursing is the right career for you.

What word describes all successful nurses? “Organized,” says Janeen Dahn, MSN, who is the Assistant Dean of Nursing at the University of Phoenix. “You have to be organized. Very task-oriented.”

Nurses need to be able to follow directions to the letter, Dahn says, while also having good critical thinking skills. Other important traits are empathy, attention to detail and self-motivation.

Step 2: Visualize what you want your nursing career to look like.

“Most people think of the nurse as the bedside nurse, and it’s so much more,” Dahn says. Nurses are educators, school nurses, office nurses, in-home nurses, traveling nurses… the list goes on. Would you rather work with infants or older people? Would you thrive in a fast-paced hospital or in a small doctor’s office?

Step 3: Become a CNA or LPN.

There’s more than one way to become a nurse, but many would-be nurses begin their career as a CNA – a certified nursing assistant. You don’t need a nursing degree to become a CNA, just a high school diploma and completion of a 6-week to 6-month certification course at a community college or vocational school. CNAs do the hands-on work of nursing: basic care such as bathing and feeding patients, assisting nurses and checking patient vital signs.

Dahn began her career as a CNA. It’s a good starting point, she says, because “it doesn’t take you four years to figure out if you like it or not.” CNA jobs are available through nursing homes, hospitals and companies like Home Instead Senior Care and ComForcare.

Another place to start is getting your LPN certification. These training programs usually take about a year, and the work is more complex (and better-paying) than CNA jobs. You have to be licensed by your state before you can practice, however.

Step 4: Plan to get your nursing degree.

Once you know you enjoy the work of nursing, it’s time to plan your advanced education. Where LPN training is focused on skills – injections, administering medication, monitoring patients – an RN’s role is more analytical, Dahn says. RNs create care plans for patients and teach patients how to manage their illnesses or injuries. They may specialize in fields like pediatrics, gynecology or oncology.

You can become an RN by getting a two-year associate degree in nursing (ADN) or a four-year bachelor’s of science in nursing (BSN). The latter is available online through University of Phoenix and other accredited schools. If you already have a bachelor’s degree in a different field and you are a licensed registered nurse, you can enter an accelerated MSN program, which lasts about 18 months.

Once you’ve mastered all the hands-on work of nursing, you can further your education with online nursing degree programs. Online programs offer flexible schedules so nurses can take classes outside work hours. At University of Phoenix, the ADN to BSN and BSN to MSN programs are available online. For additional options, be sure to choose accredited programs before enrolling.

Get started on your nursing career! Get free information about campus and online nursing degrees today.