Nursing Practice Overview

Answer 1

Those who are interested in some form of nursing practice should determine what sort of nursing they are interested in and should complete the necessary education and training for the job. Nurses can practice in many different settings and can have many different types and levels of expertise. While nurses most commonly practice in hospitals, they can also practice in private residential and school settings as well as in many other settings. Some nurses even practice in private or state clinics and business settings.

Nursing practice can be most generally defined as the provision of care to healthcare patients. Nurses must provide assessment and possibly even treatment of illness, and must determine the best courses of intervention for patient care. In order to obtain qualification as a registered nurse, individuals must complete what is known as a '50/50' plan of education, with half of the work completed in a classroom setting and half completed in a practice or training setting. These programs generally take about three years to complete, but can take less or more time depending on the program. After obtaining certification, most nurses are expected to continue education of at least 35 hours per year, to ensure that all those in the nursing practice are current in procedure and practice.

Depending on what type of nursing practice an individual is working in, job expectations and procedures will vary. Those who are working in a hospital setting will be expected to perform well under stress and with a variety of people, including patients, doctors, and hospital personnel. Those who are working in school settings will be expected to work under various confidentiality agreements and with various levels of need. Those who choose to work as private nurses, visiting homes and residences, will need to obtain various levels of certification and will need to determine a course of employment that will give employment reliability.

Nurses can also choose to obtain higher levels of education to become nurse practitioners or other specialists. There are many different types of specialization that can be obtained, but many require Masters or Doctorate degrees and more years of schooling. However, these positions can also provide higher pay and job stability.