Registered Nursing as a Career

Registered Nursing as a Career Registered nurses are medically trained individuals who care for patients in different settings. Registered nurses implement the patients’ care plan. Nursing duties include dispensing medicine, recording patients’ past medical history, and observe reactions to treatments – not parallel/see pg. 24-26 in FAQs (US Department of Labor, 2008). According to Tracy Ingram (personal communication, October 29, 2008) registered nurses are not legally not permitted to change the patients’ care plan; only a physician can make adjustments. The nurse informs the physician of the patients’ symptoms and reactions to the care plan. The physician uses this information to make an adequate care plan. Any student who is thinking about becoming a nurse should be a caring, responsible individual. Nursing can be a stressful job requiring good communication skills and maturity. A nurse must put aside his/her emotions to be able to handle emergency situations. To become a registered nurse there are several pathways a student could pick – use stronger/more precise vocab.. Many traditional colleges offer a four year Bachelor of Science degree in nursing, while smaller community colleges offer an Associate of science degree in nursing. With either degree, a student could become a registered nurse. Another option is to become a licensed practical nurse first, and then find a school who that offers a program for licensed practical nurses to transition to a registered nurse. A final option is to find a hospital that has a program for nursing. Certain hospitals offer a short brief nursing program that awards the student a diploma upon completion. These programs are becoming less available every year. Students who attend these programs have a difficult time finding jobs, and continuing their education – not parallel. Traditional colleges do not accept credits from hospital programs (personal communication, October 29, 2008). Once a person has completed his/her degree he/she must pass a state licensing exam, NCLEX-RN. Most states require all healthcare professionals to renew their licenses every 2-4 years (US Department of Labor, 2008).A majority of states require nurses to complete a set number of hours of continuing education before they are allowed to renew their state license (US Department of Labor, 2008). Every state has different laws regulations on licensing. Many states are trying to join together to make requirements the same so a nurse can be registered in all states instead of individual states. According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, a registered nurse can specialize in different aspects – odd word choice of nursing. Registered nurses can specialize in a particular area like the intensive critical care unit or the emergency room. A registered nurse can choose a disease to work with, like addiction. Specialty faculties hire nurses to care for the patients. A nurse can specialize in a specific population like neonatal, pediatrics or geriatrics. A traveling registered nurse is hired by an agency and goes to a city where there is a nursing shortage. A traveling nurse could be in one city for a week, a month or even a year (US Department of Labor, 2008). Work on source integration – review pg. 158-166 in FAQs There are many places an individual with a nursing degree can work with a nursing degree – poor syntax. The most common places are a hospital, doctor’s office, and a nursing home. These places represent the more traditional nursing jobs. Less common places to work as a nurse are a school, military job, or a correction facility – not parallel (US Department of Labor, 2008). A registered nurse working in a hospital or nursing home could work almost any time of the day or nightshift?. Most of those environments need nurses for 24-hour coverage because the type of care they offer the patients – poor syntax. Since hospitals and nursing homes are 24-hour care faculties, most nurses would be required to work some? holidays and weekends. Most hospitals and nursing homes rotate weekends among the staff so no employee works every weekend. Several hospitals and nursing homes may offer a shift called weekend option, which requires an employee to work every weekend for a higher rate of pay. Registered nurses working at a physician’s office, school, or clinic would work 8-5 Monday through Friday, maybe an occasional Saturday. A school nurse only works when students are there, so she/he would have off weekends, holidays, and summer break. These jobs are difficult to get hired on to better phrasing needed because the staff that fills them does not typically leave and if they do there is plenty of applicants for the job – poor syntax. Registered nurses work in a clean and stable environment most of the time. Some registered nurses who are employed in home care may have to work in a less desirable environment. Nursing does have hazards. Registered nurses come in close contact with contagious diseases, toxic chemicals and medicines that could be harmful (US Department of Labor, 2008). Nurses must follow rules and regulations about how much radiation or chemicals their bodies are exposed to in a year. Another risk nurses must be aware of is an accidental injury due to sharp equipment and dangerous hmmm – needs clarification patients. There are many different jobs a registered nurse can have that do not deal with direct patient care. Pharmaceutical companies hire registered nurses to promote medical sells ?? do you mean “sales” for the company. The registered nurse would visit doctors’ offices and hospitals giving outdistributing samples and educating providers about medications. An educator is another popular choice of registered nurses. Most teaching jobs at colleges require a master’s degree, but a registered nurse can be an educator for licensed practical nurse classes or be in charge of students during clinical hours. A case manager makes sure that patients at a hospital or nursing home are gettingreceive the care they need. A case manager is involved with patients indirectly through the nursing staff (US Department of Labor, 2008). The job outlook for a registered nurse is good. This field is the fastest growing career, with the demand out weighing the supply of workers (US Department of Labor, 2008). There are numerous choices of different jobs available; this is why nursing is an excellent career choice. Hospitals are not available in every county, but in the next fifty 50 years it what is it? is predicted that they will be -- poor syntax. (Lavin, M, 2008). Nursing provides a stable work environment and offers an important community service. The need for nurses will never end.

References
Too much space
US Department of Labor Statistics. (2007, December 18). Occupational outlook handbook, 2008- 2009: Registered nurses. Retrieved November 1, 2008, from http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos083.htm.
Too much space.

Lavin, M. (2007, July). International journal of nursing terminologies and classifications.
Retrieved November 6, 2008,. from EBSCOhost website: http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=14&hid=105&sid=865ff35c-770a-480c-b8f5-41f12e14c413%40sessionmgr103. These should be in alphabetical order!

Explanatory Writing Rubric

Points Earned Points
Possible Grading criteria Comments
20
20-0 Clear thesis that is appropriate for the material and intended audience. Makes some point about this career choice; goes beyond simply describing the work.
10 10-0 Effective introduction showing audience awareness.
10
10-0 Conclusion effectively summarizes the content and conveys the significance of this information for the intended audience.
6 10-0 Style clear with few distracting errors. Voice, tone, and stance are appropriate and effective for material, purpose, and audience. Work on proper grammar (sentence structure) and stronger vocab.
10 10-0 Consistent and effective point of view.
10 10-0 Organization is supported with helpful and effective transitions and with coherent arrangement
7
10-0 Correct in-text documentation. Writer is discernible from sources, and discussion of source information is discernable from the source information itself. Work on smoother source identification and integration.
5 10-0 Correct works cited or references page (including at least three sources). This can make use of APA or MLA style, so long as it is consistent. Not in alpha order; too much spacing between sources.
10
10-0 Minimum of 1000 words; 12 point font, double-spaced; no hard returns; indents and hanging indents set with ruler; internal & external links (if used) are functional and accurate.
88

100-0  TOTAL POINTS

References: Lavin, M. (2007, July). International journal of nursing terminologies and classifications. Retrieved November 6, 2008,. from EBSCOhost website: http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=14&hid=105&sid=865ff35c-770a-480c-b8f5-41f12e14c413%40sessionmgr103.