## Nursing career essay

  
  
Nursing career is more than just about changing bed sheets and taking vitals. Over centuries, nurses have developed many indispensable skills. Be it through providing comfort and easing the pain of the injured, or learning how to administer lifesaving medicine to the sick, nurses have remained the central force on the frontlines of health care. Nurses have been known to exist since the Roman Empire, with the first historical mention of these workers showing up in documents dating back to around 300 A.D. The main remedies and treatments used for caring for this sick during these primitive times were basic skills, back then taught from mother to daughter; the exhausting physical and emotional work performed by nurses was exclusively women's work. Over the centuries, the field of nursing has evolved along with medicine, sanitation, science, and technology. Although these advancements have brought the need for the Registered Nurse to become fully competent in these areas, the foundations of providing basic patient care remains fundamentally the same as it was in the earliest days of nursing.  
  
Furthermore, there are different ways nurses choose to climb their career ladder to becoming a Registered Nurse. Some decide to attend a four-year university after graduating high school, some are just inspired to become nurses, and many just want to continue to take the next step into the next level of their career. Nursing roles is like a food chain and Certified Nurse Assistant are right under a Licensed Nurse. Their job duties are providing hands-on care such as bathing, ADL's, and routine vital checks. There are many ways nurses choose to climb the ladder to becoming a Registered Nurse. Some decide to pursue a traditional bachelor's degree education and attend a four-year university right after high school, while others come to the profession through other work in the health care field, and simply feel inspired to advance their careers to the next level. Nursing roles are structured much like a food chain or a ladder: CNAs answer to practical nurses, who in turn answer to registered nurses. At this beginning level, CNAs provide hands on care and assistance with activities of daily living such as bathing, grooming, toileting, and routine vitals checks. As with any health care worker, all nurses must have a drive to want to do more and expand their scope of practice. For nurse aides, this means going back to school to receive further training in areas like starting IVs, drawing blood, managing high blood pressure, treating wounds, and much more. Nursing field has change over the past hundreds of years it is more challenging and practical. And working hang-on experience alongside graduate registered nurses in skilled health care facilities is very essential for future nurses. A job can help benefit to help new workers to see first-hand that managing time is important, communication help improve patient satisfaction, and prevent reduces stress with abilities to learn how to manage. Teaching critical thinking skills for nursing can better enhance the opportunities in a nursing career. But, can passing the state board examination for nursing prove manageable because of the hands-on experience, managing time to lessen a stressful situation, and enhance the opportunity of being a register nurse.  
  
First, the nursing field is challenging in school and as a job but if students consider working as a Certified Nurse aide first then they will receive a greater chance of observing and gaining clinical skills. One of the main concepts of hands-on experience is to learn useful skills that will be used later in the long term being beneficial throughout life. In a nurses blog post about, "One of the most important benefits of work experience is its potential to provide opportunities for students to learn more about their abilities. It helps them explore their strengths and weaknesses and identify the gaps in their skills. By helping students to explore the depths of their abilities, work experience can help students to draw a comparison between the skills they possess and those required by a specific job (Scotjobsnet 2014)". This is a piece of great information for all students because applying to a nursing school they can get some insight on the type of experiences of what is expected as a Nurse. The student can decide on whether a nursing school is a great career path for them because the level of care needed.  
  
Furthermore, a great way to gain work experience is working in nursing homes and hospital jobs. Hospitals are more likely to hire certified nursing assistant with nursing home experience because nursing home have more experience with working with people who are needed infrequent care due to chronic medical problems due to decreased mobility or cognitive problems. As compared to hospitals are mostly caring for patients recovering from injury or illness. In a school website, according to Houghton and Martin's article, "You will likely be responsible for anywhere from 12-24 patients. CNA job duties will primarily focus on the personal care of these patients and will include a lot of lifting. Most CNAs agree that nursing home care is faster paced than hospital care, but a lot of people enjoy the constant movement (Houghton and Martin, 88-103)". Hospitals are looking to hire those with experience with faster pace and heavy workload. Because the hospital tends to focus on getting patient back to good health and send them back to their home where continuing care is manageable by family or staff. The nursing home has a wide variety of different health issues to learn how to care for patients struggling with new lifestyle medical conditions such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease, sundowners, and many more. If you're already working in a hospital you'll have some knowledge of how to assist patients with sun-downing behavior and identifying types of strategies work to calm, redirect, or manage a patient's behavior. Although working in a hospital you're able to experience nurses direct care on healing, managing pain, inserting IV's, types of medications, reason for lab work, and the anatomy of how our body works when organs shut down, why our body retains fluid, what causes stroke, how to prevent heart attack or seizures, and how antibiotic treat infections. Nursing aide learn more during first level of nursing because they provide the most beside care and report any changes to the registered nurse for further treatment to begin. Many schools can be taught from a but practical performance is way better because several types of facilities have same care needed but all different type of care can be useful for one. Along with working in different healthcare environments between working in the nursing home, rehabilitation center, and hospitals. Nursing homes teach many skills about patient care, how to redirect patients suffering from major health problems, understanding how to care for patients with difference between Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and many others. Rehabilitation helps the patient to recover from serious injuries. By teaching them techniques on how to use their body differently after surgery, accidents, and other health problems new to them. A hospital has all medical conditions to deal with but with nursing rehabilitation skills it can be easier to manage.  
  
Secondly, with all the heavy workload as a certified nurse aide or Nurse with the amount of stress to come with being in the healthcare field. Working eight to twelve hours' shift can be a long hour of non-stop of answering call lights and providing patient care. The job required a lot of teamwork but in a recent medical blog it mentions, "In the United States, the number one cause of stress among nurses is teamwork - pressures associated with working together as a group, such as poor communication, conflict, and tension. This was followed by stressors linked to job circumstances, like employer demands and work satisfaction. Moreover, nurse shortages are becoming an epidemic, predicted to only worsen by 2025 (Keyrel)". Certified nurse's working alongside Nurses should experience this type of feeling the same amount of pressure nurses face during one shift. Giving nurse aide a first-hand perspective view and decision on choosing nursing as a career path for them. Is it manageable to deal with the major workload and continue returning to work after a stressful shift? Nurses deal with all types of situations that the only help from certified nurse aides is to assistant while the nurses are gathering information to plan a solution and start treatment by making decisions based on information provided to nurses by the nurse aide. If an aide can still see themselves as a nurse and still can handle workloads of task they may consider to continue to still go nursing school.  
  
Furthermore, Certified Nurse Assistant work experience is beneficial for those choosing to attend the nursing program because in an article stated, "Clinical stress is common among student nurses as they find it hard to practice professional skills in clinical area and develop discipline. They also experience stress in clinical area; clinical sites, pressure in procedure performance, fear of committing a mistake, time pressure, dealing with different kind of patients (2011)." Healthcare hands-on experience is a learning environment because it helps to identify stress and abilities to adjust the requirement to relieve it. Being prepared can help to prevent stress and overwhelming task. Being able to learn basic practical nursing skills on the job will be easier for future nurses to know equipment, task, and way around the hospital.  
  
Thirdly, an important skill nurse use constantly that is a challenge is critical thinking because nurses use this skill twenty-four seven in their nursing career field. In an article states, "Critical thinking in nursing is the result of a combination of innate curiosity; a strong foundation of theoretical knowledge of human anatomy and physiology, disease processes, and normal and abnormal lab values; and an orientation for thinking on your feet (Ward-Smith 2020)". This is an important type of strategies healthcare use to identify a problem, gather information, evaluate solutions, and communicate a clinical outcome. Certified Nurse Assistant use this main skill when gathering patient vitals, observing patient while an assistant with ADLs, and to report anything unordinary right away. Nurse aide assists in patients' recovery from surgery, injury, and any type of illness, and while they are assisting they can report a change if notice. If a patient was walking fine without assistance to the bathroom but later felt weak and slanting more to left when the patient walks to the bathroom next time, that would be reported. Or a patient blood sugar drop low fifty within four hours on receiving insulin for high glucose over two hundred. Those are just two examples of what type of critical thinking a Certified Nurse aide job is to recognize patient responses and possible issues. In another article written by the writer stating, "Teaching critical thinking skills to nurse aides involves encouraging them to make decisions, analyzing those decisions and discussing possible outcomes based on the care choices they make (Richards 2017)". With this type of skill being taught in any health care field job than Certified Nurse Assistant will have the experience to carry with them during nursing school. Along with working in different healthcare environments between working in the nursing home, rehabilitation center, and hospitals. Nursing homes teach many skills about patient care, how to redirect patients suffering from major health problems, understanding how to care for patients from different disease such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and many others. Certified nurse aide care for more than a ratio of six patients per shift from six in the morning to ten at night for those working double shift. Aide begin their day assisting patient to toilet, bathing, dressing and receive medication for breakfast. Rehabilitation helps the patient to recover from serious injuries aids work hands-on with patient that are injured and a certified nurse aide job are to help patient to care for themselves to they can return home. We observe the patient weakness and strength for easier way to properly and safely transfer a patient.  
  
And hospitals have all medical conditions to deal with but with nursing rehabilitation skills it can be easier to manage.  
Therefore, students planning on attending nursing have more skills to gain as a Certified Nurse Assistant working in nursing facility and hospitals. Certified Nursing Assistant has an easier time succeeding in nursing school when prepared. Certified Nursing assistants have many advantages provided to them while working in the healthcare fields. Although, Certified Nurse Assistant are required to stay in their scope of practice but are still able to be taught by observing another nurse graduate. Nursing school is not the easiest program but tips from the previous student are helpful. Many students share information about their experience and what to expect in nursing school. Along with social media students turn to books written for nursing students, study tips, and organizations. Learning to be organized will help a future nursing student to get work done faster and teach better time management. The benefits of being a Certifies Nurse Assistant have many learning skills from working as an aide to gain experience.  
  
Work Cite:  
  
Scotjobsnet. "Benefits of Work Experience for Students."  
  
"CNA in a Hospital vs. Nursing Home." The Manhattan Institute: Allied Medical School NYC  
  
Keyrel, Alan De. "The Biggest Causes of Nurse Burnout and What You Can Do." MedEd Web Solutions, CWS, Inc.  
  
Singh, Charanjeev, Sunita Sharma, and Ravinder Kumar Sharma. "Level of stress and coping strategies used by nursing interns." Nursing and Midwifery Research Journal  
  
Ventola, C Lee. "Social media and health care professionals: benefits, risks, and best practices."  
  
P & T : a peer-reviewed journal for formulary management  
  
Ward-Smith, Peggy. "The Nurse as a Critical Thinking Expert." Urologic Nursing, vol. 40, no. 1, Jan.-Feb. 2020, p. 5+. Gale Academic OneFile  
  
Richards, Patti. "How to Teach Critical Thinking Skills for Nurse Aides." Work