Navigating Nursing: Overcoming Challenges in the Face of a Nursing Shortage

Passion, Paths, and Specializations

Ever since I was a little girl, I knew that someday I was going to be a nurse. I have always loved helping people and doing everything I possibly could to learn more to help people. When trying to decide what college was going to be right for me, I knew that I needed to look at the nursing programs of each of my choices because I never had anything else in my mind about not being a nurse.

I have a couple of options that I’m currently deciding between, either UNI and then going to Allen College to do my nursing clinic training or going to the University of Iowa and going to the nursing program they have. They both would be just the right school to help me learn as much as possible and challenge me to be a better person and student within the nursing program. Before taking some nursing classes, I never did much research or thought about nursing. I just knew that I wanted to help people in any way possible.

From the different fields of nursing, I have always loved children and have loved just being involved in any way I could and being hands-on with everything. So as of now, I plan to become either a pediatric nurse practitioner or a trauma nurse. The common task for a trauma nurse is to handle minor and acute problems, prepare patients for emergency operations, and assist surgeons during operations. To me, doing that as a career path just really interests me, and just doing anything in the medical field will make me happy, just knowing I’m helping people is what matters.

Statistics, Career Outlook, and Advanced Practice

“Nursing is the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, facilitation of healing, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, groups, communities, and populations” (American Nurses Association). This definition describes exactly what I have wanted to do for some time. I have never really looked at the statistics of nursing as a career and just found Allen’s visit and website very interesting and helpful.

As well as the Occupational Outlook Handbook that, allows me to see the vital statistics of nursing as a career in a quick facts chart. I learned that the median pay for 2014 was $66,640 per year, for 2016 was $68,450, and for 2018 $70,000, and the job outlook is 16%, which is evidently much faster than average. I have always known that there has been a shortage of nursing, and hopefully, as soon as I graduate, I will be able to find a good career fast.

After researching the vital statistics and what nursing is, I went into a little more detail about advanced nursing practice because that is where I hope to be after graduating with a bachelor’s degree. I then would receive my doctorate degree in nursing practice. “Advanced nurse practitioners are highly experienced and educated members of the care team who are able to diagnose and treat your health care needs or refer you to an appropriate specialist if needed” (Hinchliff).

I learned through the article “Advanced or Advancing Nursing Practice: What is the Future Direction for Nursing” that over the past several years, advanced nursing practice has become a much higher demand due to “first, the significant reduction in available doctors; and, second, the rise in numbers of patients with complex health needs.” This hopefully means that when I graduate and become an advanced nurse practitioner that I will be able to help in areas of shortage and allow my abilities to heal and save other people.

A Day in the Life of a Nurse: Challenges and Fulfillment

A typical day for a nurse is when they first arrive at work, one of their first responsibilities is to either speak with the previous night nurse or review outpatient records to get an idea of which and how many patients they’ll be dealing with. Once this has been completed, other preparations are made, which include looking over patient tests that will be administered throughout the day, coordinating schedules with doctors, and checking email.

Once all of this has been completed, premed orders are faxed, and any testing equipment needed for early morning patients is set up. Additionally, if testing equipment is required to be set up, a call is usually made to them to confirm that they will be on time. As time goes on, patients are seen and helped by the nurse, and vitals are taken for all of them. A computer is used to chart patient data, and the nurse works alongside the doctor to administer any testing and assist in whichever way the situation calls for.

Emergencies come up throughout the day that may prevent other, less critical appointments and testing from taking place on time. Roughly around the point of mid-day, lunch is eaten. However, this could be interrupted at any time by a medical emergency that needs immediate attention. A day in the life of a nurse can be hectic, and any nurse will tell you that no two days are the same.

Whenever the emergency subsides, the nurse goes back quickly and consumes the rest of their lunch with what little time they have left. As time creeps into the afternoon, more patients are seen and dealt with. In some cases, non-English speaking patients will bring along translators to help the communication process. Once the nurse gets a chance to breathe between patient emergencies, appointments, testing, and scheduling, he/she can return to their office to catch up on less critical matters, such as emails.

The nurse continues to see patients and check on ICU procedures by reviewing charts and collecting data. Many nurses oversee the collection and recording of data on surgery patients. Amidst doing this, a nurse might continue to check and respond to emails and review the schedule for the following day. Lastly, at the end of the day, the nurse leaves almost entirely depleted of energy. However, they are also filled with a sense of fulfillment for making such a difference in the lives of their patients. The nurse plans to go home and take care of personal matters, and he/she is usually in bed by around nine or ten to ensure there’s enough rest and recharge for the next day.

After doing all this research, I understand more about the career and understand what I need to do to get where I would like to be in my future career. Basically, all I knew before this research was that I wanted to help people on a more personal level than a doctor, and now I for sure that nursing and one of the schools can help me do this.

References:

1. Occupational Outlook Handbook. “Nursing as a career.”
2. Hinchliff, S. “Advanced or Advancing Nursing Practice: What is the Future Direction for Nursing.”