My Objective Is To Obtain A Certified Registered Nurse

A registered nurse (RN) is nurse who has undergone nursing education and training and licensed according to national or state regulations (Mgi, 2013). Job description of a RN mainly include provision of general nursing care services. This involve patient assessment and monitoring; maintenance of patients’ records; and consultation and collaboration with other healthcare team (Othman, 2017). A RN also supervises junior staff (licensed practical nurse (LPN) and Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA)); communicate plan of care to patients and their family members; provide health education; and engage in disease prevention, among others (Buppert, 2017). The limits of authority and responsibility legislated “scope of practice” for a RN include conduct nursing process in terms of patient assessment, deriving nursing diagnosis, planning, implementing, and evaluating patient care (Nurse Journal, 2018). 

A RN is administering prescribed medication, but is not allowed to prescribe medication other than those used in nursing care process, such as analgesic and intravenous fluids (Flinter et al., 2017). The “Code of Ethics” for RN include maintaining patient’s dignity; focusing on patient interests; promoting patient safety; accountability and responsibility; self-integrity; and continuous education (Mgi, 2013).

The requirement for RN profession is a two years associate degree in nursing (ADN) or a four-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) program attained from any accredited College or University (Buppert, 2017). To receive practice license, a trained nurse must take and pass a licensure exam provided by National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) (Florida Board of Nursing, 2019). The nursing training program can be attained from a nursing training colleges and university, such as Ohio State University (offers BScN) and Houston Community College (offers AND). The cost for AND training ranges from $5807 to $105696, while cost for BScN training is approximately $ 25080 and $ 45440 (Landry et al., 2016; Study.com, 2019). For instance, at Ohio State University, BScN program cost is $10,037-$27,365 per year, while the AND cost at Houston Community College ranges from $1,632- $3,756 per years (Landry et al., 2016; Study.com, 2019). The AND takes two years, while BScN after four years. After training, the State’s Board of Nursing registers and certifies the qualified nurse after passing licensing examination (Florida Board of Nursing, 2018).

In terms of job availability, an RN can work in various settings, such as hospitals, nursing care facilities (nursing home), home healthcare, physician’s offices, as well as schools (Silvestri, 2014). The RN jobs are readability in the United Stated compared to other occupations. For instance, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) (2018), more than 86% of RNs are working in healthcare setting, while 11% are employed in other fields. For instance, in 2016, about 2955200 RNs were working in U.S. (BLS, 2018; Landry 2016). In terms of growth trends, the employment of RNs is forecasted to grow by 15% by 2026 (BLS, 2018; Landry 2016). There are more jobs of RNs advertised every month. For instance, according to Indeed (2019) website, which is American worldwide employment-related search engine for job listings, there were about 700 jobs advertisements locally in Florida last month. Experience is always not required to start working as a new RN graduate. This applies to RNs who transfers from one state to another. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) (2018), the median salary for an RN with a Bachelor degree in U.S. is about $ 68450 annually, with an hourly wage of $30.32.

There are various advancement opportunities for RNs with or without further education. Most RNs can commence as staff nurse in various hospitals and with or without additional education, they move to other work settings or are promoted to more responsible positions (Toney-Butler & Romain, 2018) For instance, a RN can advance from assistant unit manager to head nurse, administrative roles of assistant directors, vice president, or chief nurse (Auerbach, Buerhaus, & Straiger, 2017; Landry et al., 2016). However, with education, such as in health service administration, a RN nurse can rise to senior leadership position in health care (Auerbach, Buerhaus, & Straiger, 2015). Additionally, a RN can train in specialized area of care, such as intensive care unit, theatre nursing, psychiatric nursing, and reproductive health nurse among other (Donna, 2004). Some may advance to other sectors including insurance companies, pharmaceutical manufactures, policy developments, as well as quality assurance (Ohman, 2017).

There are numerous local, state, and national professional organizations for RNs in U.S. One of them include Health Occupation Student Association, which belongs to high school and college students and currently have 245000 members (Mgi, 2013). Lifetime membership cost is about $150. Another one is American Nurses Association (ANA), which serves professional RNs, and has about 3.6 million members (ANA, 2019). The membership cost is only $15 per month or $ 174 per year (ANA, 2019). ANA members benefit free and discounted Continuing Education opportunities and can access online social/professional networking since RNs joins ANA for liability insurance and financial rewards (ANA, 2019). RNs in U.S. have numerous journals, such as Journal of Professional Nursing (JPN). Its contact address is ‘American Association of Colleges of Nursing, One Dupont Circle, NW, Suite 530, Washington, DC 20036, USA’ and phone number is 202-463-6930 (Morton, 2019). The gold open access publication fee for this JPN journal is $ 2500 (Morton, 2019). Another journal is the American Journal of Nursing (AJN). Its contact is ‘333 Seventh Avenues 20th Floor New York, 10001’ and its cost is $3,100 (Kennedy, 2019).

Continuing education Units (CEUs) is required for RNs especially for renewal of license. For a nurse who have been in practice for more than 1600 hours is required to have a minimum five contact hours annually for license renewal (Toney-Butler & Romaine, 2018). However, those who have practiced for about 160-1600 hours should have minimum of 10 hours (FBN, 2019). The opportunities where RNs can gain CEUs include doing short certificate course certification, such as in Advance Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), Basic Life Support (BLS), as well as Pediatric Advance Life Support (PALS) (Buppert 2017). The RNs can also engage in short online causes and continuous medical educations (CME), professional workshops, and seminars Buerhaus et al., 2017).

I fit into the RN profession because I am pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in nursing. Through, this, I am going to have adequate educational background to qualify for RN registration and licensing (Buppert, 2017). Besides, the training is going to make me gain adequate theoretical and practical skills that are fundamental to RN practice (Mgi, 2013). I am fitting RN profession because of some of my personal attributes, good listening skills, endurance, hardworking, self-directed, empathetic, and eager to learn, which are essential in nursing practice (Flinter, 2017). These attributes will be adaptable to the diversity environment of nursing practice.

My personal career plan is to become an RN by pursuing Bachelor’s degree in Nursing at Miami Dade College, Florida. This is an accredited intuition to offer nursing training programs. After completing my training, I am planning to register for certification and licensing, by completing the licensing exams National Council of State Boards of Nursing Licensure Examination. Afterwards, I will work for three years to acquired adequate practical skills and competencies. I will regularly engage in CEUs by doing short cases, such as Advance Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), Basic Life Support (BLS), as well as Pediatric Advance Life Support (PALS), in accredited college. Then I will be registered for a master program in Nursing. This will provide me with opportunity to pursue nursing career to the highest level possible.

My objective is to obtain a certified Registered Nurse qualification to enable me create and get various opportunities to expand practical experiences, provide quality healthcare and discharge duties effectively, and advance in my career. My key goal is in career in nursing is to achieve the highest level of training and education in nursing to enable me become adaptable to ever changing working environment in nursing, and to contributed significantly in the nursing profession and practical advancement of and improvement.

References

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