Nursing is one of the careers that students look down on. But many educated people have come to realise the importance of nursing in our society especially in Nigeria as a developing country.
A nurse is a care giver. An average qualified nurse is caring and understanding. He/she always wants to know one’s state of health, sometimes even how you feel.
A nurse is as fulfilled as everyone else in other careers as opposed to some people’s thought. Nursing, I will say is actually a noble career and it is very good especially for women as they are the ones to look after children in the family.
Nursing as any other career, prepares the mother for motherhood, nutrition of the family, their personal hygiene and also enlightens the mother beforehand of the stages of development of the children and to know how the family can handle every stage of their developmental changes.
According to the Bureau of Labour Statistics, there will be a shortage of about 800,000 nurses by 2020. The population of the world is living much longer and will need to have more medical care. So, hospitals and medical facilities are always looking for nurses.
But you should know that this profession is not restricted to females alone.
In addition, nursing as a career helps the father, who is the head of the family to have peace in his home as he is quite aware that any emergency situation the wife, who is the mother of the family, is capable of handling it even if he is not at home.
Nursing is one of the most popular second careers. The field offers relatively good pay, and you easily can increase your earnings by working more hours and working on holidays and weekends. There are many professionals who retire from their first career and continue to work part time as a nurse to supplement their income.
The subjects needed for a person to enrol as a student nurse includes: English, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics. This must be at credit level or above.
Some of the most common patient populations include paediatric, gerontology, pain management, wound and burn management, psychiatric and chemical dependency.
In conclusion, the career of nursing is a highly respected field, and there is a great demand for highly skilled nurses around the globe today.
I want to say that, there is no regret or lack of fulfilment in nursing; you can be what you want to be as a nurse.
By Muhammad Ismail Ahmad
Department of Mass Communication, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Maiduguri
