Stepping out of nursing school as a newly graduated, registered nurse can be an exciting and often emotional experience. After years of studying, living on a budget, and racking up hours of work experience, you have finally made it into the world of full-time nursing. But, your journey as a nurse doesn’t have to stop here, and for many successful nurses, the journey never stops. So, now that you’ve graduated from nursing school, it’s time to think about your potential next steps. We’ve listed a few of our top suggestions here.
Get Your Master’s Degree
Although nurses are in higher demand than ever before in the U.S., getting your master’s degree in nursing can help you to take your career to the next level as quickly as possible. Master’s degrees in nursing will usually take around 1-2 years to complete, although check accelerated RN to MSN program details to see if you can graduate earlier. With a master’s degree in nursing, you will find it easier when it comes to landing graduate jobs and can expect to enter the industry on a higher pay grade than those without a master’s qualification. Along with this, you will have more opportunities to progress to management positions or undertake further study.
Find Your Area of Specialization
Nursing covers a very broad range, therefore to be successful it’s often essential to focus your efforts on one area of specialization, for example becoming a family nurse practitioner, or maybe working as a nurse anesthetist. You can take the next step towards achieving these goals by taking a master’s degree, or there are various courses and additional qualifications that you can study for whilst working as a registered nurse. Find more RN to MSN degree details here.
Try Teaching
If you are passionate about nursing and want to make a difference to the next generation of nurses and those to come, teaching nursing students could be the perfect career path for you. Many registered nurses go on to study for a master’s and a doctorate in nursing whilst working full-time, thanks to online, remote and part-time study. With the U.S. currently experiencing a severe nursing shortage that’s only expected to get worse due to the aging population, good professors to teach nursing in schools and colleges across the country have never been more greatly needed.
Try Something Different
If you have completed your nursing degree and have realized that working hands-on with patients isn’t for you, there’s no need to worry as your work so far has not been in vain. With a nursing degree, you will have gained a lot of knowledge and experience that can be put into practice in a range of disciplines at master’s level, for example in laboratory jobs or perhaps in non-clinical settings. So, why not explore various master’s degrees in the subject areas that you are interested in working in to see if anything suits you better.
After graduating from nursing school, you have a world of opportunities available to you!