How To Become A Nurse

Nursing is one of the fastest-growing careers in the world. It is increasingly high-tech, but also requires people with great compassion and caring. You can work with any group you like, from children to the elderly, and provide any level of care you wish, from working with dermatologists to the intense emotional atmosphere of hospice. You can choose a career as an emergency room nurse or in a small pediatrics clinic. You can even work online (emergency triage is increasingly becoming virtual) or overseas, in schools and on cruise ships.

Even better news: there is a clear, simple-to-follow education path to become a nurse at any level. Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) require the least education, about ninety days, and receive a certificate. Nurse practitioners and MSNs on the other end of the nursing spectrum hold graduate degrees, and in some cases are even more specialized than a physician.

The Nursing Education Path: Where Do You Want To Be?

The easiest way to get into nursing is by working as a CNA. Most hospitals, nursing homes, and other medical institutions have programs for CNAs to learn on the job, and often they will pay for your education. It’s a great route especially if you have to work, as you are often paid to learn.

But a CNA is not a real nurse; rather, the CNAs do a lot of the work nurses don’t want to do,  from delivering food and spoon-feeding patients, to taking care of the bedpan issues, to helping patients to the shower and sometimes taking care of those basic needs. The next level up is a licensed practical nurse (LPN), a one-year diploma-type certification that gives you training in things like delivering medication, giving shots, taking blood and vitals, and most of the things we associate with nurses.

A Registered Nurse (RN, or ADNs) has a two-year associates degree and even more training and power. He or she is empowered to do all the same things an LPN does, as well as some diagnosis and even providing basic treatments. An RN is the lowest level of nurse generally able to work on his or her own at a school or other place outside a hospital.

Up to this point, all your training requires at least some hands-on work. Past the two-year mark of an RN, however, training becomes less hands-on and more books-and-computer oriented. A BSN – bachelor of science in nursing – degree is a four-year college degree and teaches you much more involved things: nutrition, complex physiology, theories behind radiology techniques, and other similar medical issue. BSNs can remain generalists, or they can start to specialize: in palliative care, geriatrics, pediatrics, industrial nursing, nutrition, oncology, obstetrics, and even information technology.

Many nurses choose to remain with an RN rather than a BSN degree because RNs do more hands-on, patient-oriented work. BSN nursing today is largely paperwork and computerized tasks. However, BSNs are the lowest level of nurse generally put in charge of other nurses, or given jobs in the ICU. Before leaping into a BSN program, you should take a good look around and see what you really want to do with your career – and by this point, you should have a good idea.

Beyond the BSN, you have two choices. You can get a straight MSN degree, a Master’s program, or you can go the nurse-practitioner route. An MSN leads to increasingly administrative work for the nurse, and often can carry you into a career in hospital administration.

A nurse-practitioner, on the other hand, is a nurse with the training and experience to do many of the same things a family practice doctor used to do on a regular basis: diagnose basic ailments, prescribe medication, perform complex tests like PAP smears. You’ll start seeing nurse-practitioners more over the next few years in positions like running small clinics at drugstores and Wal-marts. Nurse-practitioners are also increasingly opting for midwife jobs, delivering babies when pregnancy and labor is routine. Because nurse-practitioners are cheaper than doctors and provide excellent care for routine problems, they are projected to grow in numbers as more and more insurance companies direct patients to them for care.

With all these levels of nursing degrees up to the MSN and nurse-practitioner level, it is normal to either work your way through each or to just go to college and get a degree at that level – in other words, nurses are just as likely to move through CSN-LPN-RN-BSN as they are to simply get a BSN degree and skip the rest. With the highest degrees, however, you really need to have some practical nursing experience, and most advanced programs encourage their students to have a year or two of nursing experience before attempting them.

In any case, it’s up to you: jump right in by working your way up, or get into that four-year program and jump in at a higher level. What works best for you?

The Best Way to Find the Doctor

Whether you’re moving to a new city, your old doctor is retiring, or you have a new insurance plan, finding a new doctor can be worrisome.  It can seem overwhelming, particularly since we grow to trust our old doctors, and they understand us and our history.  There are lots of listings out there, and finding someone else who can do these things for you can be tricky.  However, if you give yourself enough time to search, and go about looking for a new doctor carefully, you won’t have a problem.  Here’s how to find a new doctor who’ll be right for you.

First, make a list of what you want from a doctor.  Think about what you like in your current doctor.  Some things to think about include whether your doctor seems empathetic, explains things clearly to you, and what kind of manner he or she has.  You may also want a conveniently located office or a particular specialty.  Use these considerations to help you pick out a new physician who can help you as much as the old one has.  Many people also need to make sure that their new doctor is included in their health insurance plan.  If English isn’t your first language, a doctor who can speak other languages may be a priority.  For those without cars, convenience to public transportation could be important.

Next, figure out what kind of doctor is right for you.  There are general practitioners, who don’t specialize in one particular area; family practitioners, who take care of people of all ages; general internists, who cover a wide spectrum of problems, but only for adults; and specialists, who have extra training in a particular area.  Your particular situation will tell you what kind of doctor will be best for you.  Many health insurance plans will require you to have a family or general practitioner before you can see a specialist such as an anesthesiologists or a gynecologist, so keep that in mind.

Third, find out what other people think.  Word of mouth is the traditional way to find a doctor, because we care about what our family and friends’ experiences have been.  You can also ask your current doctor to recommend someone else, or talk to a nurse at the office or local hospital.  Local, county, and state medical societies may have referral services that can help you, too.  Many people also check online to find out what a given doctor’s credentials and reputation is.  Depending on the state in which you live, you can find out if your prospective doctor has a current medical license, and whether or not he or she has been the target of disciplinary action.

Fourth, start contacting doctors.  Once you’ve narrowed things down and made a list of preferences, you can begin contacting doctors in your area to ask questions.  Some possible questions you might want the answers to when selecting a new doctor include whether the practice will select your health insurance and how long the wait is to get an appointment.  The training and education of your prospective doctor are also important.  Find out if the office will process any medical claims for you, or if you’ll have to deal with the insurance company on your own. 

If you suffer from any chronic health conditions, find out whether the doctor has experience with them.  If you’re calling a group practice, be sure to talk to all the doctors there or ask about them, and find out who you will talk to if your doctor isn’t available.  If the doctor does work with other health care professionals like nurse practitioners or physician’s assistance, find out how often you’ll see them instead of the doctor, and for what reasons.  The amount it will cost you to have a visit may also be important.  Take note not only of the responses to these questions, but also how the staff seems to behave.  A stressed staff may be more difficult for you to deal with in the long run.

Last, talk to the doctor in specific.  Make an appointment to interview your prospective doctor.  This will tell you how well you communicate, and what his or her specific policies might be.  Remember that you may be charged for this appointment, however, and that some health insurance plans will not cover this kind of meeting.  However, being sure about your new doctor is very important, and may be worth the fee.

What To Expect If You Want To Go To Medical School To Become a Doctor

Going to medical school might be a frightening prospect, especially if you don’t know what to expect when you get there. It is important to remember that when things are easy they don’t usually end up being worth much. It is the hard things that end up being worth a lot, and medial school is one of those things. It is a long and hard process, but in the end it is a process that is completely and totally worth it. Medical school is something that is challenging, and it is something that is designed to make sure that doctors and those getting a medical degree are people who are going to do good things with it and take responsibility. People’s health is something that is very important, and if you are considering a career in which you take responsibility for it, you want to be sure that you are serious about learning and about knowing all that there is to know about the medical field to become the best doctor you can be.

It is often hard to get into medical school, and usually you have to take many tests and have excellent degrees in your undergraduate studies. However, once you have gotten into school, graduating is much easier because the teachers and staff work very hard to make sure that each student gets the education that they need to become a qualified doctor, and they’ll do all that they can to help you succeed as well.

Medical school is a long process, and it is important to understand that process before you begin. During the first two years of medical school, you will be studying the sciences. These will include anatomy, where you learn about the human body, biochemistry, physiology, microbiology, pathology and pharmacology. You will also study the behavioral sciences during these first couple of years. During this time, along with the sciences that you are learning, you will also be learning how to take a medical history, and how to examine patients. This is the information section of your education ,and it is during these years that you will learn all of the information that you need to be a qualified MD.

Next, you will be going into hospitals and clinics. During these years, you will be observing the way that hospitals work, and you will also be working with doctors who have lots of experience. It is during this time, usually about a year or more, where you will be thinking about the different career paths that you could take. There are plenty of them, like family medicine, internal medicine, psychiatry, surgery, gynecology, obstetrics, and pediatrics.

The next years – usually two or three, of medical school will take you into hospitals and have you working alongside doctors and nurses. You’ll be taking elective courses, and doing work in clinical settings during these years of medical school.

Medical school is not over when you’ve finished it. After you are done with school, you will need to be a resident at a hospital, which is your chance to learn more and gain more experience. You will probably already know what you want to do, but you can still keep your mind open and make decisions during this time.

All in all, medical school is going to be about 4 years, with 3 to 7 years or residency that follow. The first two years are mostly spent in classes, and the last two years are spent observing and working with patients in clinics and hospitals. Your residency is usually spent in various rotations at different hospitals, so that you can get a feel for each department and decide exactly what you’d like to do for your career.

Medical school is tough, and it can be expensive. It can cost more than 100,000 dollars, depending on which schools you go to. However, getting an MD means that when you are finished with school and your residency, you will be able to have a job that allows you to do what you love to do, and make the money that you need for your livelihood. Therefore, taking out school loans and working while you are in medical school is something that will end up being worth it in the end.

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