Mooney 1

Sonya Mooney
Pd 1
English 12
Mrs. Aughenbaugh

Registered Nursing
The career I chose to pursue after high school is nursing. My main motivation for
choosing nursing is because it gives me a way to help other people, which is something Ive
always loved doing, and its one of those careers that will always be in demand. My hope is to
someday become a Flight Nurse and work on a STAT helicopter or specialize in burn trauma and
work at UPMC Altoona. I made my decision to become a nurse after finishing an EMT class for
my fire department. I loved studying medical terminology and how illnesses and trauma affects
the human body. Burn trauma fascinated me because a little over 2 years ago one of my cousins
fell into a fire and had severe burns over his entire body (mainly on his face) I watched the
doctors and nurses work with him during skin graphing and again during his rehabilitation
period. There are many different aspects to becoming a Registered Nurse and the process is very
rigorous as you will see.
Nursing can be viewed as many different things but the most commonly used general
description is one who helps other people when they are sick and/or injured. Personally, I believe
that being a nurse is much more than just that. Not only do nurses help people when theyre
distressed but they work around the clock, through their scheduled shifts, and often miss their

Mooney 2

breaks and lunches. Being a nurse means you will constantly be on your feet taking care of
normally at least ten patients at one time, most of which are frustrated and in pain. For these
patients to be taken care of correctly I must be able to master basic tasks, have the right set of
skills, and have the best education possible.
When I become a Registered Nurse there are some tasks I will have to do every day at
least one time a day if not more. One of these tasks is being able to consult with doctors and
other healthcare professionals accurately and efficiently about the patients I am taking care of. I
will also need to able to operate and monitor equipment like a heart monitor. Im going to need
to know how to assist a doctor in diagnostic tests and reading the results correctly because most
of the time doctors are going to ask the nurses for their opinion so they can see all perspectives
and give the patient the best treatment possible. Another common task Ill be performing
multiple times a day is recording medical history and administering medications. Once I update
their records and give the patients the medical care they need Im going to need to either update
their patient care plan or set them up with one for when they leave the hospital. This part is
important because they need to know how to properly continue their care at home with the help
of their family. In order to properly do that I will have to teach both the patient and their family
how to manage the illness or injury and explain how the home treatments will work. I will also
get the opportunity to assist in surgery by handing the surgeon his/her tools and by administering
local, inhalation, intravenous, or other types of anesthetics used for the patients comfort during
the surgery.
The hours I will be working will depend on what type of facility I will work for. For
example, Flight Nurses get the option of having 12, 24, or 36 hour shifts while hospital nurses

Mooney 3

work 6, 8, 10, 12, and 24 hour shifts. The work day can be days, nights, weekends, and holidays
and can vary greatly from week to week especially if Im on call.
Without a doubt being a Registered Nurse will require me to have many skills and they
arent all clinical ones. A lot of being a nurse has to do with being caring, compassionate, and a
team player. I must also have confidence in myself and the ability to make the right decisions.
Being able to organize information and provide effective care simultaneously is essential. A
nurse has to be able to organize patient care charts and manage numerous patients at one time.
Aside from being an excellent problem solver and being able to observe patients and help
diagnose them, a nurse must be able to calm a distressed patient (or the patients family) and
empathize with them. I will also have to be able to answer the patient and their families
questions fully and get additional information for the family if requested. Social perceptiveness
and oral comprehensiveness are also very important in the healthcare field. I dont want to give
anyone bad information or talk above the patient with the overuse of medical terminology
because they most likely wont understand me and it will only increase their anxiety.
No matter what college I decide to go to I have to have at least a C in Academic
Biology, Academic Chemistry, and Algebra 1. The biology and chemistry classes must have a lab
included in the class. If I dont have at least a C I can take the college equivalent to those high
school classes but I would then have to wait an extra year before enrolling completely in the
nursing program. Once Im accepted there are two different degrees I could pursue; a 2 year
associate degree in nursing (ASN) or a 4 year bachelor of science in nursing (BSN). For the ASN
degree I would be required to have at least a 900 on your SAT and/or a 20 or above on my ACT
with a 2.70 high school graduating GPA. The BSN degree is much different with two more years
of college along with much more difficult entry requirements. The basic high school

Mooney 4

requirements are at least 1000 in the verbal and math portions on the SAT and a GPA of at least a
3.0. One of the requirements is taking a NLN or TEAS test as a pre exam before being accepted
into any nursing program. My pre-nursing exam score must be greater than 110 but it is
recommended to have a 120 or better because colleges look at them first.
Clarion and Lock Haven University are two schools in Pennsylvania with an
exceptional Nursing program. Once Ive been accepted to schools like the ones listed above I
need to start thinking about cost. The average tuition for a full time student is $4,894. This
amount does not include the cost of housing or food. In general terms, a dorm in a residency hall
will be cheaper than a suite by about $2,000. If I wanted to make it a little cheaper still, I could
get a dorm with a roommate for about $2,569. Theres also a one-time records fee of $50 and
meal plans range from $225 to $1,553.
There are various payment plans for the students convince and students with 6
credits or more are eligible for a Stafford loan or a State PHEAA. Something else to help offset
the cost is student employment which is available at most campuses. This is when the college
allows to apply for an on campus job to help pay for food, books, or other expenses. If I were to
take out a student loan, some carry a 5% fixed interest rate and payments began immediately
after a 9 month grace period. During this 9 month period I would not be charged for the interest
and this option will give me a more affordable way to get my nursing career.
Registered Nurses are required to have 30 hours of continued education before their
license expires every 2 years. They can obtain these 30 hours by taking classes that can be found
online or often at their place of work. Some of these classes include ambulatory care, cardiology,
and psychology. RNs are allowed to take these classes anytime during their 2 year license and

Mooney 5

can take more than 30 hours if they wish but those extra hours will not roll over onto the next
license period.
Registered Nurses work in a plethora or different types of facilities. These places include
nursing homes, doctors offices, hospitals, home health services, schools, and even helicopters.
Hours vary greatly because places like hospitals are open 24/7 while doctors offices are only
open 5 days a week and Flight nurses only work when someone severe trauma to their body.
Generally speaking, hospital nurses work 8, 12, 16, or 24 hour shifts but they tend to work over
their scheduled hours when the hospital gets busy.
The potential earnings of a nurse varies due to the place they work or if they specialize in
anything. The average annual salary is $65,470 while a government lead facility pays about
$68,540. The average hourly wage is about $31.48+ depending on years of experience and
training. The annual salary honestly depends on where I work and what I do in the facility I will
work in. For example, RNs at hospitals make roughly $67,210 while residential care facility
RNs make approximately $58,420.
In 2012 it was reported that the lowest 10% of paid Registered Nurses was paid about
$45,040 yearly while the median yearly pay was $65,470 and the highest 10% was $94,720.
Another factor that would contribute to how much a Registered Nurse would get paid yearly or
even hourly is where theyre working. Obviously, nurses who work big cities like Pittsburgh will
always get paid a great deal more than nurses who work in small towns like DuBois.
Next well look at job outlook. The healthcare industry is something that will always
grow because people are always getting sick and injured. Injury and illness is something that will
never go away and we will always need people to take care of us when these things do happen.

Mooney 6

Nursing is an occupation that is projected to grow much faster than average at 19% from 20122022. Jobs in hospitals arent expected to have much of a growth rate because instead of hiring
more Registered Nurses and other healthcare providers it has been decided that the same amount
of nurses will take on and care for more patients increasing the number of patients as opposed to
increasing the number of nurses. However, jobs in nursing homes, rehabilitation for stroke and
head injury centers, and Alzheimers centers are expected to increase dramatically due to the
overwhelming number of elderly who need that type of care. As of now, 21% of all Registered
Nurses were only working part-time and 59% of those jobs were found in hospitals while only
3% worked in an outpatient care center.
In conclusion, being a nurse takes much more than just four years of college and
applying for a job at a hospital. Nurses need to withstand excessive stress, sleep deprivation, and
extreme hunger in order to do their jobs on a daily (and sometimes nightly) basis. While they go
through all this nurses must be able to continue to be nice to their patients, make them as
comfortable as possible, and provide excellent medical care in a timely manner. Even though the
nursing program takes the most time it is certainly the easiest part of becoming a nurse.

Mooney 7

Works Cited:
Source 1 Nursing US Bureau of Labor Statistics. 1 Jan. 2014. Web. 7 Oct. 2014
(www.bls.gov)
Source 2 Nursing Unknown. 2014. Web. 7 Oct. 2014. (www.onetoonline.org)
Source 3 Nursing Career Cruising. 2014. Web. 7 Oct. 2014. (www.careercruising.com)
Source 4 Home Clarion University. Clarion University of PA, 2014. Web. 7 Oct. 2014
(www.clarion.edu)
Source 5 Home Lock Haven University. Lock Haven University of PA 2014. Web. 7
Oct. 2014 (www.lhup.edu)