Advanced Education for Nurses
If you are already a nurse, you will remember how hard you had to study so that you could obtain your RN license and begin your career.
Not everybody enjoys the educational side of things, especially when you’re trying to manage a job on top of your studies. It can be a lot of pressure, but you get something great out of all of your hard work in the end. This is why considering returning to education as a nice to get an advanced degree is beneficial. If you’re a nurse who is currently unsure what their next steps should be, here are a few examples of the benefits you will gain for getting a higher degree.
More Career Opportunities
There are many opportunities to progress your nursing career, with a variety of specialist roles to choose from and different working environments that you might find yourself in other than just hospitals or physician’s offices. However, for many of these roles, you will need to boost your education and get the right qualifications to get the right licenses to practice and clinical knowledge that you can apply in your new position.
Get a Better Salary
As an advanced degree will help you move into more specialized roles as a nurse, it’s not surprising to hear that this will mean an opportunity to get yourself an increased salary. You can see some of the best-paid roles for nurses here. If you aren’t planning to move into a new position immediately, you can still use your advanced degree to negotiate your current salary, perhaps, or if you were going to move to a different place of work but moving into a similar role.
A Chance to Challenge Yourself
As a nurse, you will face numerous challenges every day in your job. While this can be overwhelming at times, it may also be the case that you’ve begun to feel as though you’re coasting in your current position. If you are yearning for more stimulation in your work routine and believe that you can and want to take on more responsibility, perhaps it’s time to consider getting an advanced nursing degree.
It will certainly provide additional challenges as you balance your work with study and increase your professional knowledge.
Boost Your Confidence
Although career progression might be the key reason to get an advanced nursing degree, it could also help you feel more confident in your role. It can help refresh your knowledge from when you did your bachelor’s degree in nursing and make you stand out in your team because you have learned so much more. You can feel proud about your achievements and feel more confident at work, whether applying for a promotion or just being able to offer a little more in your current role than you could before.
Flexible Approaches to Study
All of the above might sound good so far, but perhaps one of the reasons you have been holding off on getting an advanced degree in nursing is because of the expense of returning to college and not being able to fit your studies around your work. Luckily, there are more flexible approaches to obtaining the advanced degree that can be most cost-effective and will allow you to continue to work at the same time.
Here is an example of an online doctor of nurse practitioner course that might be more suitable for your needs. Of course, you’ll still receive a top-quality education, and you should be able to get a placement arranged for you by the university you’re studying with, but always double-check this with them to make sure.
Support
Another perk of advancing your education as a nurse is that you will have access to additional support from your tutors and other colleagues studying alongside you. This is another way you can boost your confidence in your career, as you’ll be able to ask questions with confidence in a safe environment in your classes and study groups.
You will still get this kind of support from your tutors if you do choose to enroll in an online degree program, so don’t worry about missing out on extra support if this is the only viable way you can obtain an advanced nursing degree.
Networking Opportunities
In any career, taking the opportunity to network will be hugely beneficial. It’s a chance to make yourself known to your colleagues, including those who might be looking for up-and-coming nurses to join their teams. While there will be networking opportunities outside of your education, enrolling in an advanced degree program will connect you with other professionals in your chosen field, and your tutor might be able to help you with references for future positions or even put you in contact with employers if the opportunity arises.
Potential for Better Work Hours
Registered nurses often work in shifts, and usually, these can be up to 12 hours at a time. This can be very exhausting, especially if you have had a particularly tough day on the ward. While some people might thrive in these conditions, this can eventually become too tiring for many people, and the need for a more structured routine becomes too hard to ignore.
Although you can seek employment as a registered nurse in numerous environments that might offer better hours, getting an advanced degree will also allow you this opportunity. Working as a family nurse practitioner, for example, will usually only require you to work during daytime hours. Other nursing specialisms can also have a more structured working day, which means you can get home each evening to spend time with your loved ones and get some well-earned rest.
If you’re a nurse who is looking for something more out of their career, getting an advanced nursing degree could be the perfect solution. Returning to education might sound a little daunting at first, but for all of the reasons above and more, it’ll be worth the effort.
