General Nursing Career Opportunities

EntryDenied12

Looking for advice, all the nurses I seemed to know are mainly all working in nursing homes or hospitals.
A relation of my mine is a nurse and she has been on the same pay scale for the last number of years as she only completed a degree in general nursing full stop!

I find it a bit daunting to find out that because I would like to continually develop myself however I would like to explore other avenues and would like to be rewarded financially for it.

So would completing a masters straight after completing a Bsc Hons in General nursing is the way forward and then choosing a specific area which you'd like to specialize in besides only working with adult patients in nursing homes/patients?
Thanks guys

Dingle_berry

I'm not a nurse so not the best person to answer but I do know that nursing has many, many, many career paths. Probably the most of any healthcare qualification.
As well as the varied types or medical speciality (eg geriatric, neonatal, surgical, medical, etc) there's management (CNM, ADON, DON), sales, research, training, I.T., the list is almost endless. The pathyways to get into each job are almost as varied, not all include formal academic studies.
The BSc will give you a taste for the big stuff like surgery, mental health, etc and indirectly stuff like training and management.
Every nurse, almost every healthcare professional, must complete Continuous Professional Development as part of their job. You'll always be learning. How much is up to you.

Tom Mann Centuria

Have you started nursing yet OP?

Conor Bourke

EntryDenied12 wrote: »

Looking for advice, all the nurses I seemed to know are mainly all working in nursing homes or hospitals.
A relation of my mine is a nurse and she has been on the same pay scale for the last number of years as she only completed a degree in general nursing full stop!

I find it a bit daunting to find out that because I would like to continually develop myself however I would like to explore other avenues and would like to be rewarded financially for it.

So would completing a masters straight after completing a Bsc Hons in General nursing is the way forward and then choosing a specific area which you'd like to specialize in besides only working with adult patients in nursing homes/patients?
Thanks guys

You won’t get paid extra as a staff nurse just for having a MSc unless it’s specific to the area in which you’re working, and I don’t know if your relation is a relatively newly qualified nurse who’s wage was frozen due to austerity but now upon qualification you should advance up the pay scale every year for your first ten years, regardless of courses.

I think it’d be wise to get working for a couple of years to find out which area of nursing you have an affinity for, then pursue your grad dip/msc. I qualified in 07, didn’t do an awful lot academically til 2011 when by chance I entered my now chosen speciality. I then did three certificates and a grad dip in the space of 3 years and began working as a CNS just a few weeks after I turned 30.

If pay is your main motivator in your nursing career, you’re going to have a bad time. I would urge you to instead focus on finding the discipline that you enjoy and are passionate about, if you’re motivated and academically capable, the rest will all fall into place in time

SheepGoHere

I did a masters when I was two years qualified and really benefitted from it. Promotions come much easier with further education. Move around a bit, don't stay in the one hospital/department. You learn more in different places, and your CV looks much fuller. You could be 15 years qualified but look far inferior to someone just 5 years out who has more varied experience. It's easy to get stuck as a nurse if you don't challenge yourself!