Nursing is a Rewarding Career: Why is This? 

Gwen Stefani
Gwen Stefani

In a lot of cases, the term rewarding careeris a subjective one. What some people find rewarding, others find boring and worthless. This is why, on balance, there is a perfect job out there for everyone; with so many different definitions of the word rewarding, those looking for work can determine what will be best for them.  

This is crucial. Finding a job that you feel is rewarding will be so much more enjoyable than a job that you dont feel is rewarding at all. Youll be more productive, youll feel less stressed (even on the worst days), and youll find that you have a happier life overall. A job in which you feel it would make no difference if you were there or not, or in which you do the same day every day without seemingly getting anywhere is not going to make you feel like that; in fact, it will make you feel terrible. 

If you have a job list this, its a good idea to look around for something more enjoyable and, ultimately, more rewarding. Even if you have studied hard for a particular career, if you find its not what you really want, there is no shame in taking a step back and reassessing.  

This is where nursing comes in and why it might be something for you to consider. Although, in the majority of cases, a rewarding career is indeed subjective, when it comes to nursing, it is simply a fact; nursing is a rewarding career. Just what is it that makes it this way? Read on to find out.  

The Work-Life Balance  

The work-life balance is something that everyone will have heard mentioned before, but its not necessarily something that everyone understands or that their current jobs are able to offer them. Too much work means that you miss out on time with your family, enjoying your hobbies, hanging out with your friends, or even just having a chance to catch your breath and relax at the end of the day. If the work-life balance is not an even one, you will be exhausted, frustrated, feeling guilty, and you might even burnout altogether. It certainly wont be good for your stress levels.  

How can nursing, with its shift work and long working hours, be good for maintaining a positive work life balance? It doesnt seem to make sense, yet it is entirely possible, and something that nurses find is a rewarding part of their work. Yes, they do work long shifts, and they do work at night and at weekends and on holidays, but when they have time off, they can really enjoy that time. They wont have to think about work as its not something they can catch up on at home, and because their off days will be as long as their shifts, there is plenty of time to do whatever needs to be done and whatever makes for a good work-life balance.  

Career for Life  

What could be more rewarding than studying for your nursing degree or taking an accelerated BSN nursing program and then being able to use those qualifications for the rest of your working life? Training and education never stop during a medical career but it doesn’t mean it should be a burden on day-to-day responsibilities. Nurse practitioners are supposed to refresh their skills such as advanced cardiac life support and nowadays it can be done completely online, without disturbing their work. What can be more comforting than knowing that, no matter what choices you make in life, you can always have a job that you can stick with and make the most of either through promotion or becoming the best nurse you can be at a level youre happy sticking with?  

This is yet another reason nursing is considered a rewarding career choice. Its unusual in the modern world to be able to find a job and stay with it until you retire, but in nursing, this is exactly what you can do. Without worrying about redundancies or the company youre working for closing, or anything else that people in other industries might have to think about and plan for, you can simply concentrate on your work and do your best to get where you want to be.  

Improve Peoples Lives  

Of course, when youre not thinking of your own career and your own happiness (both of which are incredibly important, dont forget), you can be sure that there are other reasons why nursing is so rewarding. One of these reasons is that you are improving peoples lives on a daily basis. Whether they are a patient and are sick or injured and you are there to treat them and take care of them, whether they are a relative of a sick or injured person and you are there to comfort them, or whether they are a colleague and you are there to help them, lives will become better when you are there. This means that the moment you chose to become a nurse and take on the hard work and learning that goes with it, peoples lives began to become better.  

Imagine going home at the end of your shift and taking a few moments to think about all the people you made a difference to that day. Even on the most difficult days which nurses will certainly have to contend with there will be someone, and usually more than one person, to whom you have truly made a difference.  

Nursing Offers Challenges 

Having challenges to deal with in life is rewarding for many people. They find that it makes life more interesting, and it shows them what they can do, or, in some situations, it shows them what they need to know more about and become better at. All jobs will have some challenges, even those that appear to be routine at first, such as 9 to 5 office work or driving the same route every day on a train and so on, but nursing is one of the most challenging of all, and if you want to improve yourself then nursing will help you do it.  

Its exciting to be challenged, and its even more exciting to be able to overcome those challenges. In nursing, even if youre struggling with a particular challenge that you have come across, youll find that there is always someone there to help and support you, so you can enjoy the rewarding nature of nursing no matter what happens.