Nursing as a Career

Becoming a Nurse

“To you, the next generation of nurses, know you will always be challenged to embrace those that face you. You have a unique opportunity to make a difference in the quality of life of populations, communities, families and patients. The opportunities in front of you are unlimited. You have the privilege of using science within the art of nursing to alleviate pain, suffering and anxiety.

Nursing has a long and vibrant history and you will help shape the next generation and the future of the profession. Through your experience, compassion, teaching and research you will improve outcomes for the citizens we are so privileged to serve.” 

—Sister Margret Vickers RN, Order of Canada 2009

Nursing as a career is more than a job; it’s a growing profession offering an astonishing range of choices and opportunities. Nurses are the heart of health care. As a registered nurse, you can make a difference in one person’s life through one-on-one care, and in the health of all Canadians through research and leadership. (CNA)

With the aging population growing steadily, there will be no shortage of jobs for nurses well into the future. In most parts of the country, including New Brunswick, the average age of nurses is growing, meaning that more nurses are retiring, thus furthering the nursing shortage.

The predictions of a 2002 CNA study—anticipating that Canada will be short 78,000 registered nurses by 2011 and 113,000 by 2016—still hold true. (Rachel Bard, Feb.2009)

This means above average opportunities for full-time employment in a wide variety of settings. Registered nurses earn salaries that compare with other professionals with a similar amount of education. Health care is offered 24 hours a day, so expect to work some nights and weekends, like doctors, law enforcement officers, and others who provide essential services.

Please see Nursing Education Programs in New Brunswick for more information.

Choices...Lots!

Nursing is full of opportunities to grow, to advance and to change your career direction. Please see NANB’s publication Nursing! Your Career…Your Future for options.

Whatever your interest—working with children, scientific procedures and high tech equipment, teaching and promoting healthy practices, developing your management skills—nursing has something for you. Here are just a few examples:

In the Community:

• health clinics
• schools
• wellness programs in the workplace
• doctors’ offices
• home care
• family planning clinics
• poison control centres
• prenatal and well-baby clinics
• rehabilitation centres
• sexually transmitted disease units
• AIDS hospices

In a Hospital:

• emergency
• intensive care
• operating room
• post-surgery
• maternity
• cardiovascular (heart)
• oncology (cancer)
• psychiatry
• pediatrics (children)
• palliative (dying people)
• geriatrics (seniors)

The great thing about nursing is that your choices never end. With some years of experience and further studies you could branch out in almost any direction imaginable. After a few years in practice you might decide to become an advanced practice nurse. An expert nurse with a master’s degree, an advanced practice nurse provides direct care to clients and serves as a role model and consultant to other practising nurses. There are currently two types of ANPs in Canada, clinical nurse specialist and nurse practitioner.

Or you might decide that you want to investigate current issues in health care. On the leading edge of health care discoveries, nurse researchers design studies, collect data and analyze results. Their findings contribute to the vast body of scientific knowledge that supports and improves nursing.

Leadership

All nurses are teachers, helping people learn to prevent illness and manage health problems. But you might want to become a nurse educator, preparing future nurses to enter practice. You could work at a community college or a university, and research would be part of what you do.

A nurse administrator coordinates nursing services in a hospital or community health centre. Handling large budgets, supervising staff and setting the standards for excellent care takes strength and good management skills.

The Sky is the Limit

And any of these choices could lead you still further. Nurses’ ideas and opinions are sought after by the media, politicians, and national and international groups. Imagine being a consultant to Health Canada, or the World Health Organization.

Or you could travel. Northern Canada is a close-to-home example, but Canadian nurses are so highly regarded that other countries - both developing and developed - actively recruit them. Your skills and knowledge could take you places. The possibilities are endless!

Source: CNA Web site