One of the great benefits of nursing is the diversity of opportunity it affords us. Experienced nurses have so many options in direct care, education, administration, the pharmaceutical industry, the legal community, care management, etc. What we learned in school as the nursing process, we now recognize as the system to work through most problems regardless of whether they are related to health care. Nurses have job security in an insecure job market. While all around us companies are laying off employees, it s rare to find a nurse being laid off.
Nurses have rewarding careers.
The upcoming generation, often called Generation Next, which even now is making career decisions, have indicated that its No.1 ambition is to help others. Unfortunately, these young people know little about what we do and where we do it. Persuading them to select nursing requires that we share with them our success stories, tell them how we have individually and collectively contributed to people s lives and convey the pure joy we feel when we help others. Like any other profession, we have things to improve. But during National Nurses Week, let s all take time to think of what s right, what being a nurse has given to each of us and what we have been able to give to others.