Registered nurses can work in any specialty and in various healthcare settings, including home healthcare. They provide patient care, education, and assist other healthcare professionals. RNs provide and coordinate patient care.
They also provide education to patients and the public about illnesses, diseases, and health conditions. RNs can provide a high level of direct care to patients, while nurses like licensed practical nurses are more focused on assisting RNs or doctors.
RNs play an important role in coordinating healthcare, as well as ensuring that everything is running smoothly overall in patient care. There are multiple educational pathways to becoming a registered nurse. Education for an RN can include:. Nursing education should not only teach the basics for nursing-specific knowledge and skills, but also those for quality care. All nursing programs include supervised clinical experience where nursing students work alongside licensed nurses, work with patients, and get hands-on experience.
All RNs are licensed by the state where they work. Licensure involves first graduating from an approved program and passing the National Council Licensure Examination. Other requirements vary by state. RNs who work in certain specialties may become certified through the professional association for the specialty. This is usually not required, but it does convey a certain level of mastery and competence, and some employers prefer it.
Examples of advanced practice registered nurses include nurse midwives and nurse practitioners. Nurses can work in a wide variety of specialties with many different patient populations. They can also work in a variety of settings, including:. Nurses have many duties, including caring for patients, communicating with doctors, administering medicine and checking vital signs. Making up for the biggest healthcare job in the U. Simply put, nurses are life-savers. There are more than 3 million registered nurses in the United States.
In fact, nurses outnumber doctors in the health care industry. A patient experiencing chest pains, for example, might have a cardiologist, a nephrologist and an internal medicine specialist. Each of these doctors would diagnose, treat and prescribe medications solely for their area of expertise. A registered nurse is a nurse who has obtained a nursing degree, has passed the NCLEX-RN exam and has fulfilled all other state licensing requirements.
While an associates degree is the minimum education required to sit for the NCLEX-RN exam, a bachelor's degree or higher is becoming more commonly preferred among employers.
For more information about becoming a registered nurse, you can read our registered nursing career guide. What do nurses do? They are continuously monitoring and evaluating patients, nurses must be smart, adaptive, educated and skilled in critical thinking.
Not all registered nurses work in hospitals. Nurses have the ability to use their skills to meet the needs of their patients, pretty much wherever they are located. For example, many nurses now assist the elderly or disabled in their homes.
Some common places where nurses work include:. Answering the question of what do nurses do can be challenging due to the fact that nurses are skilled in many fields and may choose to focus their trade specifically in certain types of care.
Some specific nursing fields include geriatrics, critical care, pediatrics, treatment planning, and case management. From working face-to-face with patients to managing their paperwork, nurses play a huge role in our lives and the profession continues to be a prosperous career path for those considering taking on this role. Some different types of nurses and their education requirements include:.
If you are interested in learning about more nursing specialties and their education requirements, read our guide on types of nursing degrees. Different classifications of nurses will earn different salaries:.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics. Since nursing is such a highly sought after profession that requires advanced training, education is key to your successful journey to becoming a nurse. At Gwynedd Mercy University, you can choose from four undergraduate Nursing programs that fit your lifestyle.
Gwynedd Mercy University also offers three graduate-level nursing programs and two post-graduate level nursing programs.
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