Advantages of a Nursing Career in Healthcare

There are a lot of people who choose to go into the nursing field for a variety of reasons. They may like to help out others who are in need or the flexibility of the hours that they get to choose from. There are many career paths that you are able to choose from, including entry positions and all the way to administrative positions based on education and experience. 

There are many great advantages to choosing to become a nurse as your profession. You can enjoy a higher compensation, lots of open positions no matter where you live, and even options to pick a specialization. Some of the biggest advantages that you can enjoy when you take on a career in nursing include:

Help Others Stay Healthy

One of the big advantages of becoming a nurse is that you will be rewarded for helping others stay healthy in their lives. You get to help take care of patients and help them with their wellness and health. This is the very core of the nursing profession. Many nursing professionals got into the career because they want to be there to help others. 

Whether you choose to work in a hospital, medical facility, nursing home, school, or somewhere else, you will be able to help your patients improve their health or to even get better when they are injured or sick. 

Possibility to Travel

Have you always wanted to travel in your career? Then a career in nursing could be one of the best options to help you out. Nurses are in high demand all over the country. You can choose between rural regions to cities and everything in between, based on the salary or where you would like to live. 

Because of this, many companies are willing to hire a temporary nurse and you can travel all over the place, meeting new people and seeing different parts of the country while working. You can change out every 13 weeks to make the work more exciting and help you see the world. And these positions will often pay higher than you would find with other positions. 

Good Salary

Many nursing professionals will choose to go with this career because they are able to make a good salary. The exact amount that you are able to make depends on the location of the job, your education, your experience, and the exact type of job. For example, an RN in a rural area will make less than an RN in a city. And administrative roles pay more than RN roles. 

The national average salary for an RN, which is more of an entry-level position compared to some, is over $78,000 a year. You can choose to get an advanced degree to help you get a higher amount of income as well, based on what you would like to specialize in. But even as an RN, you will be able to make way above the annual mean wage for other professions. 

Good Job Outlook

If you would like to get into a field that has a good amount of job growth, then nursing is one of the best. Many medical facilities are looking for professionals who will be able to fill nursing positions and there are not enough professionals to do the work for them. In fact,  the BLS projects that the employment of RNs will grow by 7%, and other nursing professions are similar.

This growth is going to result in almost 222,000 new jobs by 2029. The growth is often due to the societal emphasis on preventative care that is going on right now. This makes a positive job outlook for nurses all across the country, with faster than average growth compared to other career choices. 

You will always be able to find the job that you want in this career, no matter your experience or education level. And the higher your education and skills, the easier it is to find a job with a higher salary, making this a great choice to help you be successful. You will always be able to find a job to help you be successful. 

Overtime Pay

Nurses will have very flexible schedules, allowing them to pick the shifts that make the most money or work the best with their other responsibilities. And it is easy for you to earn overtime pay as a nurse. Since there is such a shortage of these professionals, you will be able to pick up extra shifts and earn overtime on top of your salary. 

It is estimated that nurses can make over $11,000 extra a year in just overtime. These additional sources of income can be advantageous as you are a young professional trying to get ahead and reach financial goals or pay of student loans along the way. 

Possibility to Do a Specialty

Is there a specialty that you would like to study and then work on? Then you will find that nursing is going to be one of the best areas to do that. Nurses will have access to a lot of specialization possibilities within their field, based on their interests and what they would like to do as a career. 

With all of these possibilities, you will be able to explore many options through training and education to find the right subfield that will interest you the most and fits your needs. You can use this to help customize your career and look for some of the best career advancement opportunities to do a job you enjoy and pick something with a good salary at the same time. 

Choosing to Become a Nurse

While you are able to work in many different industries based on what works the best for your skills and experience, the field of nursing is attractive to a lot of different professionals. Take a look at some of the advantages of a nursing career in healthcare above to see whether this is the right career choice for you.