What do nurses do? What are nurse job responsibilities? These are questions you may ask if you are thinking about starting a nursing career. Before you can decide if this is the job for you, you need to understand the tasks involved with it. Check out the nursing job description below for more information about your potential profession.
Nurse Job Description Explained
Nurses perform many jobs from providing and coordinating patient care, educating patients and the public about various health conditions, and provide advice and emotional support to patients and their family members.
Nursing Job Responsibilities
Every nursing job is a little different in terms of the responsibilities you have to fulfill. Nurse practitioners are certified to do a lot more with patients than registered nurses or licensed vocational nurses. Nevertheless, the goals of all nursing jobs are the same in the end. These include:
- Administering medications
- Recording medical histories and other patient records
- Monitoring patients
- Helping injured or disabled patients with routine tasks (bathing, using the restroom, etc.)
- Assisting doctors and other nurses with patient care
As you can see, a typical nursing job is focused on patient care from start to finish. Some nurses are more interactive with patients than others, and some only work with specific kinds of patients. You will need to figure out what type of nursing job you want to have to learn which responsibilities you will have.
Work Environment
Most nurses work in hospitals, doctor’s offices, clinics, nursing homes, and home health facilities. Essentially anywhere healthcare workers are, there are likely nursing jobs available. Some nurses travel from one area to the next whenever hospitals throughout the country need their assistance. Others work in airplanes, on cruise ships, in schools, and so much more.
Nurses are needed around the clock in many of these locations, which can lead to long hours at odd times in the day. Some nurses work standard 9-5 shifts, but many others will pull 12 hour shifts overnight. The more flexible you can be with your work schedule, the more money you will likely make in nursing.
Job Outlook
For the most part, nursing jobs are in very high demand. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that registered nurses are projected to have a 19% growth rate between 2012 and 2022, which is “much faster than average.” Nurse practitioners are expected to see an even faster growth rate of 31%. As long as you have the right education to pursue your idea nursing career, you should have access to work in the future.