It hardly needs any emphasis that the nusing profession is a very important component of the health care system of a country. Today nurses constitute the largest single group of female health workers in world. A profession that recalls the name of Florence Nightingale is indeed the noblest of all the professions in the world. In a hospital - from the general ward to the operation theatre - a nurse is there at every stage playing a vital role in the patient care.

Career Prospectus

   The demand for skilled, qualified nurses is ever present through out the world. As the government plans to widen the health services network, the demand for this profession would continue to grow. Nowadays even the corporates are entering this sector, further making this profession an exciting career option.

The Main Functional Areas

The main functional areas where nursing can be pursued as career are as follows.

General Nurses: The largest group of nurses works in the hospitals, nursing homes, sanatoriums, etc. Their basic job is to give beside care to the recuperating patients apart from assisting the physicians during examination and operation of the patients. The other duties include maintaining records of the patients, administrating prescribed medication both orally and hypodermically, maintaining cleanliness in the wards, preparing patients for the operations, keeping and maintaining stocks of drugs and medical equipment, etc.

Industrial Nurses: Industrial nurses work under the direction of the industrial physicians and assist in taking preventive safety measures to aviod any untoward incidents. They provide first aid assistance at the time of accidents and mishaps taking place inside the industrial premises.

School Nurses: School nurses organize and super wise school clinics on regular basis. The purpose of these clinics is to ensure that students maintain their physical and mental health. In these clinics children's vision, height, weight, growth, etc are examined with the purpose to detect health related problems if any and prevent them from developing into more serious ones. School nurses also teach children first-aid treatment and how to maintain health and hygiene.

Midwives: Midwives job start from early pregnancy and continues till the baby is about a month old. They have to look after the health of the mother and baby and advice, support mothers on pre-birth and post-birth stages. They also councel and teach mothers on how to cope up with their newborn babies.

Psychiatric Nurses: These nurses work with mentally handicapped and mentally disturbed patients. Nursing these patients requires a lot of time, devotion and patience. There has to be a combination of qualities to understand, teach and establish mutual trust with the patient. Nurses generally work in coordination with the psychiatrists, doctors and other specialists to help the patient recover.

Remunerations

Florence Nightingale might have done all the good that she did out of the generosity that came naturally to her, but nursing today is as much a profession as any other. Well-established private nursing homes pay quite handsomely, in the range of Rs 7,000 to Rs 10,000 per month.

  An average nursing home / hospital may even pay only Rs 2000 per month when compared to the reputed ones.

Requirements

The job can be very demanding and exciting as the nurses have to work continuously for 12 hours and at times walk long distances each day around the hospital. Apart from proficiency in Anatomy and Physiology, good communication skills and the ability to handle people from diverse backgrounds are also important in this profession.

  Then what motivates one to join this profession? A current television campaign in the US shows a series of nurses, male and emale, talking about why their job is important.

The message is clear and unambiguous, as the last person says, "I saved a life today".

Courtesy : Deepika Education