For modern women, finding the balance between career progression and family can be a real nightmare. We might have made it out of the kitchen, but now we are trying to handle everything all at once: the home, the family, and the job.
However, there are a few jobs that can satisfy all your ambitions. You might not immediately consider a traditional female role like nursing to be particularly forward thinking, and yet, with its incredible benefits, nursing could actually allow you to be the woman who has it all.
No longer hampered by gender roles, nursing has raced into the future. Here are just 3 reasons you should consider it an option.
Further Education Opportunities
When you think of nursing, odds are you think of turning down sheets and taking temperatures. This isn’t half of what nurses are expected to do. Nursing is the very foundation of all medical caregiving and you will be expected to be able to perform tests, give injections and spot vital clues as to what might be ailing any given patient.
As you progress in your role, there will be lots of opportunities to gain further education qualifications such as an online RNBSN programme to take your career further. There is no stopping a nurse from rising through the pay grades and becoming a senior figure in any medical practice or hospital.
Good Pay
The average nurse makes around $52,000 a year, which is much higher than the average most women make in America. This good pay will give you a little bit more freedom as a family and it could get even better if you are open to traveling around the world. Nurses are needed everywhere at the moment, so with your skills and qualifications, you could definitely negotiate an excellent salary anywhere you like. Nursing jobs tend to come with great job security so there’s no need to worry about where the next paycheck will come from.
Flexible Working Hours
Nursing is a 24-hour job but that doesn’t mean that you will be stuck on shifts you don’t want. If you have a young family, you could definitely make sure that your hours are best suited to your family life so you don’t miss out too much. Shift lengths vary but could be three 12 hour shifts per week. Naturally, this has advantages as well as disadvantages. On the one hand, it could mean that you only actually work a 3-day week, on the other, it will be an exhausting 3 days of hard work!
Nursing is an incredibly rewarding role that shouldn’t be ignored just because it is a traditional female role. The opportunities to progress in this career path are many and varied, giving you the intellectual stimulus you need as well as a chance to challenge yourself.
There is a lot of pressure on women in particular to have it all. Nursing does actually come close to helping you achieve a sense of balance between work and family.
It’s worth going for it!
My daughter loves it so much she is working on her nurse practitioner degree then her doctorate degree so she can teach others. Great post Christy!
I feel if nurses are treated with dignity, women are more likely to take up this profession !
Never enough nurses. I have high regard for those who serve in that profession, especially in tougher times with cutbacks and placing more weight of duties upon them. Nurse shortage becomes a danger for patients. <3
Great post! I will share with my 150 nursing students. Very motivating!
Truly agreed! A very rewarding job!!
Thank you, Christy, for sharing the post on nursing. My daughter is a nurse practitioner in the neonatal department at the Children’s Hospital in Denver. As first-line health providers, nurses are critical in identifying potential issues with patients. Best wishes, Linnea
I worked in psychiatric nursing under a few different titles, the task was always to be as present for another person as humanly possible. At the end of the day I knew I’d done some good.
Nursing is hard work and essential work. It’s a great career but also a great service to us.
Are you talking to me? Lol. Great points