What Are the Perks of Being a Nurse? 10 Key Benefits
Nursing ranks as the most trusted profession in the United States, and for good reason. Whether nurses choose to work in hospitals, clinics, schools, academia, or another area, they bring essential skills and knowledge. Thinking about pursuing nursing as a career path? Let’s cover some of the perks of being a nurse, and why you might want to become one.
For some background, here are a few statistics about the nursing workforce:
- Nurses make up the largest healthcare profession in the nation, and there are almost 4.7 million nurses nationwide.
- In the next decade, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that there will be an average of about 194,000 open nursing positions each year.
- Male nurses make up about 12% of the workforce, and nursing is becoming more diverse every year.
- More than 70% of RNs have a bachelor’s degree or higher, and over 17% have a master’s degree or higher.
It’s easy to see that nursing is an essential profession. But is it right for you? To help you decide, let’s go over some of the advantages and disadvantages of being a nurse today.
The Perks of Being a Nurse: 10 Benefits
1. Job Stability
If you pursue a nursing degree, you’ll be choosing one of the most stable career paths. Even during recessions, pandemics, natural disasters, and global conflicts, people still need nurses in times of uncertainty. Healthcare facilities require nurses to function, and as the American population ages, there will be even more demand for nurses across specialties. Some projections show that demand for RNs will be 9% greater than supply by 2036, and nearly 10% of RN roles are currently vacant. If you choose to become a nurse, you’ll be in high demand.
2. Flexibility
Whether you’re looking for a traditional nine-to-five schedule or you prefer working nights and weekends, one of the perks of being a nurse is the variety of work structures to fit your lifestyle. This flexibility extends beyond just hours; nurses can work across the nation and around the world. Remote nurses can even work from their living rooms. Whether you’re balancing family commitments or seeking new experiences through travel nursing, you can pick a role and work style that adapts to whatever life phase you’re in.
3. Versatility
Just one nursing license gives you a broad range of specialty options, each with its own set of specific skills, patient populations, and nursing knowledge. If you want to learn life-saving skills in a fast-paced environment, try ER nursing. Passionate about mental health? You might make a great psychiatric nurse. Nurses who love organized systems and working with a skilled team might find their dream job in the ICU or the OR. And for a range of experiences, you can change specialties throughout your career.
4. Practical Skills
If you’re thinking about becoming a nurse, get ready to start getting calls from family and friends about their health issues. That’s because the knowledge and skills you earn as a nurse are essential for everyday life. Understanding the human body, disease, and the healthcare system are lifelong benefits that can help you and your loved ones live healthier. You’ll also learn interpersonal skills, like therapeutic communication, effective time management, and critical thinking.
5. Advanced Practice Options
A nursing license opens the door to advancement opportunities where you can expand your scope of practice, specialize in a certain area of nursing, or advocate for evidence-based practice. Advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) include clinical nurse specialists (CNS), nurse practitioners (NPs), nurse midwives (CNMs), and nurse anesthetists (CRNAs). Plus, educational programs for these titles are typically structured so that you can continue working as an RN while getting your advanced degree.
6. Salary and Benefits
A Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) is one of the highest-paying bachelor’s degrees, and full-time nurses typically have benefits such as health and dental insurance, 401k match, Healthcare Savings Accounts (HSA), and more. Nurse benefits and salary are generally enough to live comfortably, and the average RN salary in the U.S. is over $45 per hour or $94,480 per year. Many healthcare facilities also offer additional perks like tuition reimbursement, sign-on bonuses, and opportunities for overtime.
7. Personal Fulfillment and Impact
Many nurses enter the profession for altruistic reasons, with a desire to care for others and make a difference in patients’ lives. And despite the turbulence of the pandemic and short staffing, 80% of RNs report job satisfaction. You’ll have countless reminders of the impact of your work — supporting family members and patients, offering guidance and comfort, and being a part of others’ healing journeys can lead to great personal fulfillment.
8. Lifelong Learning and Professional Growth
One of the perks of being a nurse is that you’re never done learning and growing. Whether you switch job areas every few years or remain in one specialty your entire career, you’ll still be learning new research, new skills, and new ways to improve patient care. You can also pursue specialty certifications, join nursing organizations, and attend conferences to expand your knowledge and your professional network.
9. Initial Degree Options
There’s more than one way to get started as a nurse. You might decide to earn an LPN diploma to start working quickly, then advance to an RN license with your associate’s degree. Or, you might start with an associate’s and take a bridge program for the advantages of the gold-standard BSN degree. You can even enroll in nursing school part time, remotely, or in an accelerated program. The path to becoming a nurse takes commitment, but it can come in many forms.
10. Leadership Opportunities
Whether you’re interested in climbing the career ladder or making an impact on the frontlines, there are many opportunities to become a leader in nursing. You might head up a unit committee, become a clinical educator, or be a preceptor for new grads and students. Interested in administrative leadership? You could become a nurse manager or even an executive like a chief nursing officer (CNO).
5 Challenges of Being a Nurse
There are many perks to being a nurse, but like every other career, there are drawbacks as well. Here are some of the biggest challenges that nurses may experience in their line of work.
1. Workplace Stress
Responding to patient emergencies, shifting protocols, and a growing nursing shortage mean that nursing can be a high-pressure career, and 64% of nurses report high levels of job-related stress. If this is a concern for you, some nursing fields are associated with less stress, such as research, occupational health, informatics, and others.
2. Emotional Toll
Nurses, especially ones in acute and long-term care specialties, may be witnesses to loss, tragedy, and pain. Providing compassionate care while managing personal emotions requires resilience and strong coping skills. Finding a supportive unit culture, and educating yourself about compassion fatigue and resilience strategies can help.
3. Physical Demands
Nurses in certain professions may work long hours, have to lift patients and equipment frequently, and stand for long periods of time. Being a nurse can be physically exhausting — one study found that the average day shift nurse clocks in nearly 10,000 steps in a shift. However, some specialties require less physical work, such as being a nurse educator or administrator.
4. Nursing School Challenges
The first challenge you’ll find if you choose to pursue this career is nursing school itself. Research shows that the prevalence of stress among nursing students is high, and it takes commitment and fortitude to persist despite challenges. Finding a supportive school, surrounding yourself with other committed students, and prioritizing your education can help you succeed.
5. Workplace Exposures
Nurses in some specialties deal with risk when they come to work. Healthcare workers like nurses are at an increased risk of contracting the flu and being exposed to other communicable diseases. They’re also more likely to experience violence at work, which contributes to burnout and turnover among nurses.
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