Nurses can specialize in certain areas, such as anesthesia, surgery or education. They can also become midwives and deliver babies, work in hospital administration, or in the community as public health nurses. Registered nurses have to make decisions, organize and plan, and work well with people. Registered nurses check temperatures, pulse rates, blood pressures and other vital signs to evaluate a patient's progress. They record information from these observations on patient charts and recognize changes in patients' conditions that need special attention.
Registered nurses prepare patients for and assist doctors during examinations.
They also give patients medication and treatments ordered by doctors. Required Education To be a registered nurse you must graduate from a nursing program. Most nursing programs last from two to four years after high school. You can get your nursing diploma from a hospital-based nursing school or your bachelor's degree from a university School of Nursing or a college that offers a nursing program. Nurses who want advanced education can get their master's degree from many colleges and universities.