Is a Nursing Degree Right for You?

Maybe you’ve decided to pursue a career in healthcare, but you’re not sure if studying to be a nurse is right for you.

Caring for patients as a nurse is rewarding and challenging, and it may be the perfect career for you. However, before pursuing a nursing degree, consider:

Your intrinsic career values

According to glassdoor.com, your career values are personal ideals and beliefs that can help you identify what’s most important in your professional career and contribute to your overall satisfaction and success at work.

Do you value connecting with others through collaborations, helping people, thinking creatively, having variety in your daily responsibilities and being challenged to think critically?

Perhaps a career as a nurse aligns with your intrinsic values. Nurses serve diverse patients by working with a team of healthcare providers to create care plans. Nurses also have a variety of responsibilities during each shift that are both challenging and rewarding.

Your strengths

Knowing your strengths can give you insight into whether a nursing degree is right for you. Write down your top strengths. You may also want to have a close friend or family member write down what they perceive to be your strengths. 

The strengths required to be a good nurse include being able to master technical and clinical skills as well as having compassion and staying calm under pressure.

Keep in mind that you’ll learn many of the skills required to be a nurse and you’ll hone your strengths while you’re in college. Nebraska Methodist College (NMC) teaches caring, respect and holism in its programs to help you learn how to become skilled at treating the whole patient.

Nursing educational requirements

It’s important to know what requirements you’ll need before enrolling in nursing school and what will be required during your program.

When you earn a Bachelor of Science in Nursing Degree, which is the industry standard for employment, you’ll gain the foundational knowledge and skills you need for a career as a nurse.

NMC’s traditional BSN program can be completed in four years. While some colleges require you to take non-nursing courses at another institution, NMC offers all the classes you need to complete your BSN.

You can begin taking classes at NMC right out of high school or transfer from another college. If you have an associate or a non-nursing bachelor degree, you can enroll in the Accelerated BSN program, which can be completed in 12 months.

Whichever path you choose, you’ll have support through academic coaching, counseling, study groups, test prep groups and peer-to-peer tutoring. In 2020, 93.53% of NMC students passed their NCLEX exams.

Nursing salary and job growth

A career in healthcare means you’ll have employment opportunities. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment in healthcare occupations is expected to grow 15% by 2029. Between 2019 and 2029, healthcare jobs are expected to grow by 2.4 million.

You can pursue in-demand jobs with a nursing degree, such as an infection control and prevention nurse, a school nurse, a pediatric nurse, a travel nurse, a trauma nurse and others.

Partly because of an aging population, the expected job growth for nurses is 7% through 2029.

At NMC, in 2020 89% of students had employment six months after graduation.

The median annual salary for nurses with bachelor’s degrees is $71,730, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

How to get a nursing degree

Reach out to an admissions coordinator at (402) 354-7200 or at admissions@methodistcollege.edu and ask questions about what is required for the application process. 

Is nursing right for you? Download NMC’s nursing career guide to learn more.