A career in nursing is one of the most rewarding career that one can find. However, it is also one of the more demanding one. You should be prepared to help others to become a nurse. A career in nursing will require that you have scientific knowledge and a heart to care.

In the States, there are more than 2.6 million registered nurses. There is plenty of job opportunity for the nurses. The advancement in health care has helped people to live longer. There is now more elderly people to care for.

In addition, as nurses are required out of hospital also, there is a growing need for nurses in all area of the healthcare industry. As more current nurses are retiring within the next 10 to 15 years, there will be great demand for more nurses. It is estimated that there will be a shortage of 800,000 nurses in U.S. by the year 2020.

A day in a nurse's life consists of gathering information about patient's physical condition, emotional state, lifestyle and etc. They also helps in planning and implementing medical plans for the patient.

A nurse's typical starting salary is $44,600. This is higher than the starting salary of many other careers. The median salary of nurses is $52,330. The higher median earns a salary of $74,760.

Nurses' career today is very broad. Those who works out of the hospital environment includes: Long-term-care centers (rehabilitation, nursing homes, hospice); community health clinic; freestanding outpatient and surgery center; medical offices (eye doctors, dentists, obstetricians, surgeons, and others); home care (visiting nurses, private duty nurses); nursing schools (as professors); and corporate health centers (occupational safety, consultants, educators).

There are also nurses who works in insurance and managed care companies, other companies (pharmaceutical, medical technology, biotech, and others), research centers (research nursing), schools (including K-12, university clinics), military, Peace Corps and international service organizations, and hospital regulators (conducting surveys, inspections).

Nurses that works in hospital include: Patient care units at the bedside; Operating rooms, trauma centers, and emergency rooms; Medical records or other hospital offices; X-ray and other diagnostic units; Intensive care units; Surgical and recovery units; and Same-day surgery centers.

Nurses can advance their career to many levels. These include: Clinical nurse specialists, who perform advanced work in specialized fields such as cancer or mental health; Certified nurse midwives, who help women through pregnancy, through childbirth, and help care for their newborns; Nurse anesthetists, who anesthetize patients in the operating room, emergency room, and elsewhere; Nurse researchers, who study ways to improve nursing methods, evaluate patterns of patient care, and more.

To have a career in nursing, you will need high school diploma and sound knowledge in English, chemistry, biology and psychology. You will also need a lot of people skills. You should get a bachelor of nursing degree or an associate degree in nursing. Some hospitals also offers diploma in nursing courses.

If you like to know how it is like to have a career in nursing, you may volunteer at a local hospital. There are plenty of nursing schools around if you wish to pursue your education to be a nurse.