Being a nurse day to day, you run into some benefits and disadvantages. It’s a give-and-take position, with a lot to consider for individuals about to embark on this career. Though very rewarding, it’s rarely easy and a person needs to have their heart in the right place to handle everything that comes with it.
To help you decide whether nursing is the right career for you, below are eleven pros and cons of being a nurse:
1. Pro – A lot of employment opportunities
As the population is aging and healthcare services are expanding as a result, there are a lot of available positions in the field. If you don’t want to work domestically as a nurse, there are also employment opportunities available internationally. You’d find it difficult locating a country or region anywhere in the world who isn’t in need of more nurses.
2. Con – Nurses are undervalued
Unfortunately nurses don’t often get their fair shake when it comes to associating healthcare responsibilities with stakeholders in the field. Doctors and administrators receive significant attention yet nurses go unnoticed. A lot of patients won’t treat nurses politely as they don’t acknowledge them as having any sort of usefulness. For a lot of nurses, they don’t get very many ‘thank yous’.
3. Pro – Personal satisfaction
Even you don’t get praise day to day, you can rest easy knowing you’re providing society with big assistance. Nurses have a high value for the role they play and the knowledge they possess. Nurses are the link between patients and doctors.
If a patient receives excellent healthcare, this can oftentimes be trace back to the treatment provided to the patient by nurses and related personnel. As soon as you put on your nursing uniform, you know you’re doing valuable and important work.
4. Con – Difficult patients, difficult co-workers
One of the cons of being a nurse is that you work in a high-stress environment. Patients oftentimes have to wait hours to see a doctor and are uneasy about not receiving attention. Some patients are naturally just very difficult, oftentimes understandable depending on their healthcare status. Also, co-workers can get stressed to the max resulting in negative communications. Unfortunately, as a nurse, one doesn’t choose their patients nor do they choose their co-workers.
5. Pro – You’re not tied down
Because the demand is so high, you aren’t tied down to a job in a specific place indefinitely. A nurse can almost choose where they want to work, be it in the suburbs, in the city, in a rural hospital, or otherwise. As your priorities change over time and should you decide you want to move, you can. There’s so much opportunity to travel, be mobile, and live and work where you so desire.
6. Con – Long days
There are some who will argue the schedule is very flexible – allowing you to choose casual, part-time, or full-time – however the days are long. If you start to pick up extra shifts as well, sure, you will receive more money which can be a temporary bonus but it could come at a cost to your mental health.
7. Pro – You’re saving lives
Why we all become nurses is to help, to care for others, and to save lives – and we do. There’s nothing as rewarding as knowing you’re doing a good thing and that you’re there to help. Healthcare’s a difficult industry to work in and for its customers, it can be a tough, stressful time. Quality nurses help make it so much easier for all involved. They are the glue that arguably holds the system together. Don’t think for a minute that, as a nurse, you’re not saving lives and making a difference.
8. Con – Exposure to bacteria
In a nursing environment, you’re exposed to viruses and germs every day. You are in direct contact with patients suffering from all sorts of conditions and illnesses. It’s highly likely you will eventually catch a cold or flu in the process of providing nursing services. You’re also in contact with bodily fluids and blood so this heightens the risks of contracting an illness even further.
9. Pro – You’re always learning
The pro of being a nurse is that you constantly meet new people and work with new people. Although nursing can be a lot to handle, it’s never boring and you’re always on the go. When you’re caring for others, you find out a lot about them and the human condition as a whole.
10. Con – The physical demands
Nursing’s biggest challenge for a lot of people is the physical strength and level of physicality it takes. Nurses have to lift patients on occasionally, such as when they need to be transferred. You’re also require to lift boxes, equipment, and be on your feet for extended periods of time. Thankfully, paperwork and other responsibilities will give you a seat now and again but all in all, nursing will likely give your mental and physical health both a run.
11. Pro – Opportunity for advancement
As a nurse, you start in a specific unit but over time, you can advance pretty quickly to being a shift leader, then floor manager, and onwards and upwards. Many nurses eventually come to upper management status while others go on to become a director or even higher. If you have the ambition, determination, and commitment to the role, there’s a lot you can do from the position of a nurse to turn it into something that nets you more responsibility, more pay, and ultimately better circumstances.
