Nurse

Nurses are health care professionals with direct responsibility for patient care. Nurses work in hospitals, clinics, long-term care facilities, schools, cor­porations, and many other settings. In hospitals, nurses provide care under a treatment plan prescribed by doctors, but often have considerable re­sponsibility for managing the details of the patient’s daily care. In other set­tings, nurses may be the first health care professional seen by a patient, and may be responsible for recommending treatment in conjunction with the doctor. Nurses combine medical expertise with strong interpersonal skills and a desire to help people.

To become a nurse, high school courses in math and science are re­quired. Nurse training programs are offered at hospitals, junior colleges, community colleges, and four-year colleges. The degree of training offered by each differs, as does the advancement possible as a result. Following grad­uation from the training program, the student must pass a state licensure exam to become a registered nurse (RN), and is then able to work as a nurse. Further education allows the RN to obtain a master’s degree in nursing. This is required to become a nurse practitioner (a nurse who performs many of the same functions as a family-practice doctor), a nurse-midwife (pro­vides care to maternity patients), or several other nursing specialties.

Referencesٌ

National Student Nurses’ Association. <http://www.nsna.org/>.