The 4 Things That You Must Know If You Want To Become a Registered Nurse

The Healthcare industry is the number one recession-proof industry in the US such that even if the economy goes south, thanks to the increase in population and human nature, if you fall ill you must seek immediate treatment. The statistics never lie as they give a clear picture of the state of affairs of any industry and in the case of the healthcare industry, the statistics paint a rosy picture for anyone interested in getting in on the action.

The healthcare industry as a whole is expected to grow at the fastest rate in the entire labor force of the US by 22% which translates to 3.2 million new jobs by 2018. The forecast is that with an ageing generation of wealthy baby boomers and the other generations having more babies, the demand for healthcare professionals is only going to soar. The number one job in the healthcare industry is the registered nurse and these will generate slightly under 600,000 jobs by the end of this year, 2016.

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With medical billing services soaring, let us explore the steps that you will have to take in order to become a registered nurse.

·         Personality - Registered nurses provide and coordinate patient care, educate patients about health conditions and provide much-needed emotional support to patients and their family members. They also work long hours in shifts largely due to their passion for the work. Therefore, you must have the desire to help those who are suffering and thus be willing to spend a lot of time working towards making them well.

·         High School – Just like any other career in healthcare, you need to work at taking advanced classes in biology and chemistry as these are the core subjects that will put you in good stead to become a nurse. Therefore, the preparation starts at high school and one of the best ways to go about it is to research on what nurses do via the internet and by volunteering at hospitals.

·         Undergraduate – This path of training is the most common for anyone who is interested in becoming a registered nurse. It is the most common among the three major academic paths that leads to one qualifying as a registered nurse. You must complete either the Associate Degree in Nursing Program, Bachelors of Science in Nursing Program or 2^nd Baccalaureate program.

In the case of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program, the training comprises of at least 4 years of academic college credit. The course is the basic-entry level training suited for any student with no prior training or knowledge of the nursing profession. It is the preferred route of entry for a nurse and one becomes a registered nurse after undertaking and qualifying in the NCLEX-RN licensing examination.

·         Masters – This is the program that is well suited for bachelor degree holders in fields other than nursing. These Entry-Level Masters of Science in Nursing Programs (EL-MSN) normally take 2-3 years to complete, after which you will take the required and mandatory NCLEX-RN licensing examination in order to become eligible to practice as a registered nurse.

Author Bio

Suresh Patel is a senior registered nurse practitioner with over 24 years’ experience on the job. He is also a trained software developer who has helped to develop bespoke medical billing services software that is currently in use in the top 100 healthcare institutions in the US.