Most people have a pretty clear image in their head when they think about nurses. To them, nurses are the people who come in to take your temperature when you are in the doctors office. They are usually more friendly and familiar than the doctor, and they perform a number of simple services. They take blood pressure and write down some of your medical record and, if you are hospitalized, also provide a good deal of the routine care. Usually they are very nurturing people who enjoy taking care of others.
Very few people understand how diverse the nursing fields really are. There are all kinds of different careers in the allied health fields, appealing to a wide variety of different types of people. For example, there is the difference between a nurse practitioner and a registered nurse. If you have the more advanced degree, you can make more money. You are not only qualified to do basic things like take temperatures, but you can even perform certain routine examinations and medical duties.
It is a better time than ever to get involved in the nursing fields nowadays. You see, there is a serious shortage of nurses all over the country. It is so that bad that, if you are a highly qualified nurse, you can basically write your own ticket. I have a friend who has worked in the nursing field for years, and she gets to dictate her own hours. She makes more than 40 dollars an hour, and comes in basically when she wants to. Although it isn’t always that sweet in the nursing fields, it quite often is. If you can get in while the getting is good, you really should give it a thought.
Of course, the nursing fields aren’t the only way to get involved in the medical health industry without going to medical school. EMT professionals are highly respected and highly paid. To be an emergency medical technician, however, you need a certain type of temperament. You need to be able to handle long periods of boredom and high stress crisis situations with equal ease. For people in this career, it is all just another day’s work. As long as you can keep your cool, it is a great job. If you can’t, however, you should consider a different allied health career. There is no point in getting in over your head when you are the type who panics during a crisis.