The Key to a Successful Career: A Nursing Degree
By Brandi Schlossberg
brandi.schlossberg@careerschooldirectory.com
Career School Directory Columnist
Imagine multiple employers competing to hire you, job options in a variety of states and settings, lots of mobility, and financial (as well as emotional) rewards. Welcome to the field of nursing.
With the proper career training, you can
earn a nursing degree and dive into this fast-growing field. A career education in nursing will give you the skills necessary to apply for any one of the many nursing positions that need to be filled for the future.
Career Education for a Nursing Degree
Your first step in earning a nursing degree is to determine what type of education will best match your lifestyle and career goals. The degree programs range from associate's degrees to bachelor's degrees, RNs, LPNs, master's degrees, diplomas from approved hospital programs and more.
A bachelor's degree typically takes four years to complete, while an associate's degree in nursing usually requires two or three years. Diploma programs are administered in hospitals and typically take three years. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 674 programs offered bachelor's degrees in nursing in 2004, while about 846 programs offered associate's nursing degrees, and 69 programs administered diplomas in nursing.
A bachelor's degree will prepare you for the widest variety of nursing positions, whereas a diploma or an associate in nursing will get your foot in the door faster. From there, you may even be able to use tuition reimbursement programs through your employer to
continue your career education towards a bachelor nursing degree.
Welcome to Nursing
Once you've completed your chosen career training in nursing and passed the national licensing exam for nurses, the NCLEX-RN, you are ready to enter this wide-open field. Your career training will prepare you to apply for a multitude of nursing positions.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, registered nurses held about 2.4 million jobs in 2004, making nursing the largest health-care occupation in the nation. The BLS also reports that the median annual salary of registered nurses was $52,330 in 2004, with the top 10 percent earning more than $74,760.
Source
About the Author
Brandi Schlossberg holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She writes for a variety of print and online publications.
Posted on January 29, 2007 at 10:06 AM
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