Thinking of becoming a nurse or a midwife? Congratulations! You’re thinking it right as both professions have an esteemed status and pay well. But wait! Is that all that you should know before going for a nursing and midwifery course?
To be honest, the Internet is saturated with the ‘things to consider before committing to a nursing and midwifery degree. Most people have laid out recommendations, outlined their concerns, and reflected upon the negatives.
While all the aforementioned is essential for making a decision—what’s more, important is substantial knowledge about both the positives and negatives along with your interests/preferences.
How can I say that? Well, at the time of writing this article, I’m in third-year nursing and midwifery student who’s running a business alongside. I know what it takes to be a nurse or a midwife. Also, I have a fresh perspective on the nursing environment in the modern day.
So, without any further ado, let’s get started!
What to know before starting nursing studies?
Nursing is a broad field—one that occupies a significant portion of the healthcare industry. Because of the sheer diversity in the field, there are some things that you must know before committing to a nursing degree.
Nursing isn’t limited to a specific profile
Do you know that a Registered Nurse (RN) can practice in 50 plus health care domains? That’s a lot if you ask me. From working within surgical hospitals to serving as a part of home health care, nursing is a specialty that encompasses several fields of operation.
Some of these prominent fields include infection control, healthcare informatics, nurse educators, clinical development specialist, quality control professionals, etc. The fields can be further broken down into specialties such as Cardiac care nurse, Forensic Nurse, Genetic Nurse, Healthcare Administrator, Military Nurse, Infusion Nurse, etc.
No, I don’t want to scare you off. All I’m trying to convey is that nursing is a very broad subject. There are a variety of profiles that you, as a nurse, can satisfy. However, for identifying that profile, it’s critical that you give importance to your interests and preferences.
Above all that, while heading for a nursing degree, you must be aware of the fact that there will be options for you to explore. Hence, you must be ready to confront the challenge of choice. I’d say this challenge is a gift. After all, you don’t get so many choices in every field.
Nursing is an emotionally/psychologically rewarding field
Mental health matters more than monetary benefits. While the latter is an integral part of an individual’s life, the former is essential for sustaining a healthy brain. While nursing can be overwhelming at times, there’s no doubt that this field has a variety of psychological benefits too.
For instance, the profession receives great respect. Therefore, you can expect your career to be an honorable career. Some people might argue that the aforementioned assertion is subjective. I won’t say that it is definite. Still, from what I’ve experienced and what I’ve learned from the experience of RNs who are associated with me, nursing is a highly respectable profession.
The emotional benefits are at their helm when a nursing individual feels compassionate and, in turn, experiences compassion originating from the other side. Yes, I’m talking about the encounters with patients. You see, when people are at their most vulnerable state, nurses are there to lend them support and reassurance. And when these people thank the nurses for their kindness—Ah! Just cannot describe that feeling.
Even in technical terms, nursing proves to be a win-win scenario for emotional health. Research shows that when an individual helps another individual, he or she experiences relief, satisfaction, a decrease in blood pressure and a decrease in chronic pain. Amazing, isn’t it?
Nursing can open the gates for entrepreneurship
Now, this is a fresh concept—one that I have been exploring for quite a while. The name NURSINGPRENEUR originated from the thought process that nursing and entrepreneurship can be successfully integrated to form an entrepreneur.
An entrepreneur is an individual who uses his/her healthcare-related skills to carry out business. In concrete terms, it entails a nursing professional to explore the domain of entrepreneurship and employ the competencies in a way that can yield monetary output.
For example, as an entrepreneur, you can develop your healthcare business where you can sell innovative products, train individuals, or contribute to direct patient care as an independent contributor.
All-in-all, being an entrepreneur can facilitate the understanding of the relationship between healthcare and business—a subject that is highly entertaining and equally challenging.
What to know before starting midwifery studies?
Was there a need to dedicate a section explicitly to Midwifery? Indeed, there was. Midwifery is usually used in collaboration with nursing; however, the profile is somewhat different, and there are some things that I wish to shed light on.
Note: The nursing considerations discussed in the previous section apply to midwifery as well.
Midwifery is an eternal learning curve
While every healthcare profession, including nursing, invites perpetual growth, midwifery goes the extra mile to make this a reality. It doesn’t matter whether you’re in a classroom or serving the patients in the hospital, every day is a new day, and every experience is a fresh experience.
In short, this profession expedites continuous learning, something that necessitates for you to be at your best as a learner. And if you ask me—In my humble opinion, this field is an opportunity for you to justify your potential and satisfy your instincts if you’re an explorer and like to ply trade amidst a dynamic environment.
This is a step above procrastination
Well, this applies to every healthcare profile, for you just cannot waste time. If there’s one thing that you need to preserve, that’s your valuable time. This time lets you keep track of the overflowing assignments, overwhelming social life, and, at times, over-hectic schedule.
In straightforward terms, midwifery is not a cakewalk, and it will never complement your endeavors if you procrastinate.
Tip: Make an events schedule/planner when you join a midwifery course. The importance of the same cannot be stressed enough.
Finally, some important eye-opening considerations before getting into nursing and midwifery
Financial Considerations
Before committing to a nursing or midwifery degree, you must investigate financial spending. These spendings include the course fee, rent, phone bills, utilities, etc. Usually, all these are included collectively in the course in case you prefer to rent your room inside the campus or at any other place funded by the college/university.
Also, keep a check on the probable salary for teaching assistant jobs, proctoring jobs, and other part-time on-campus jobs that can contribute to your fee payment. These jobs come in handy.
In case you find the course fee to be overwhelming or out of your budget, you can always content nursing-midwifery communities, banks, or other support organizations. Additionally, you might consider applying for scholarships, loans, and other forms of assistance from the university you are attending.
Keep all these things in mind and address the monetary spending before getting into a nursing and midwifery school.
Market Scenario
Every profile has a standing in the market—a variety of facets guide this reputation, including recession, market trend, etc. The biggest example of such constraints defining the scope of nursing and midwifery is COVID-19. While no one could have ever anticipated such overhauling of the global healthcare sector requirements, it did convey the fact that healthcare, too, is subjected to market trends.
To cut a long story short, you must assess the conditions before joining a specialization associated with a nursing or midwifery degree. The idea about the market is suitable for rendering insight into the placement scenario and the competency modeling of the respective field.
Modes of learning
COVID-19 has impacted the world to an unexpected extent, and education has been no alien to this change. The recent statistics suggest an exponential increase in ed-tech and this might continue for an extended period.
Besides this, nursing and midwifery courses necessitate adeptness in dealing with both online and offline instructional methods. Thus, it is essential that you are well equipped with the knowledge of both online vs. in-person instructions, for this knowledge can help you in making decisions swiftly and appropriately even when an expert isn’t around to guide you.
So, how to know that you’re a fit?
From the considerations discussed above, it is clear that nursing and midwifery are rewarding but demanding fields. Hence, if you want to be sure about your decision concerning a degree in the same, ask yourself these questions:
- Am I committed to becoming a life-long learner?
- Am I resilient in my approach to carrying out tasks?
- Can I contribute to collective progress by being a good team player?
- Am I inclined toward managing my tasks well and performing well in academics?
- Am I a people person?
Tip: Still not sure about your decision to pursue nursing and midwifery? Try volunteering for a healthcare institution and experience the practicality of life as a healthcare professional. This way, you’ll be in a better position than now to decide on your future as a nurse or midwife.
Thanks for reading this article. I hope it helped you in some or the other way.
Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
