Nurses are also usually the first medical professionals to encounter patients, and so they have to be good at making quick assessments of a patient's condition, to ensure that the patient gets the appropriate care. Obviously, an emergency room nurse might need better triage skills than a nurse in a doctor's office, but all nurses have to be able to identify potentially contagious patients and deal with them appropriately. In hospital settings, nurses are often the consistent element of a patient's care plan, and a nurse's involvement can ensure that a patient gets the type of care that he or she needs to recover. Nurses also play an important emotional role in the life of the patient, providing the patient with a caring person who can answer questions and listen to concerns. Of course, at this point in my life, I cannot say what type of nurse I would like to be.

There are various aspects of nursing that I find interesting. Do I want to assist in labors and deliveries? That seems as if it would be incredibly rewarding, but would I find that I was better suited to something like hospice care? The beauty of a nursing degree is that there is so much flexibility. I can work in a hospital, a doctor's office, go on to become...

I appreciate this type of flexibility, which seems greater than in other careers. Part of the reason for such flexibility is that nurses are in high demand. Almost every area of the country and every area of practice needs nurses. As such, nurses are in an unusual position, especially in a vulnerable economy. Nurses are demanding relatively high salaries and good nurses have their choice of position.
The high demand for nurses is not the only practical reason to pursue a career in nursing. One must acknowledge the other financial incentives as well. Medical school is not only more expensive than nursing school, but also requires a much greater time commitment without earning an income. While the financial payoffs for doctors may be greater, that is no longer guaranteed. A good nurse can earn salaries that are competitive with a doctor's, and can frequently earn higher salaries at a younger age. In fact, that nurses can begin working and earning a living much earlier than doctors, and that they generally do so carrying a much lower burden in school loans are the practical reasons I have decided on a career in nursing.