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New Year's Resolution #2: Help Others

By Wendy Croix
Learning & Life Columnist

From beginning to end, 2005 was a year filled with natural disasters and helping hands. Images of the displaced and the injured flooded our airwaves, as did images of those tireless and caring people who gave them aid and healing.

Among the many helpers we saw on the nightly news were the nurses who staffed hospital tents and aid centers. If you were moved by their courage and generosity, 2006 may be the year you decide to become a nurse.

Change Lives as a Nurse

Compassion isn't a response you can manufacture. If you have it, you already know, and if you're moved to help the sick and injured - your family, your friends, even your animals - you already know that, too. Becoming a nurse gives you the professional training that refines your caring nature and provides the knowledge and skills that direct you toward a career of service.

Medical Career Options

Since your impulses are leading you into the healthcare field, you should know that you can follow that healing career path with as little as an 18-month medical assistant certificate or a two-year associate of nursing degree. You don't have to wait forever to become a healer.

If you want to continue your education, getting the four-year bachelor of science degree in nursing and taking the national text to become a full-fledged BSN nurse, you'll have a secure career path with a rewarding salary that matches your personal satisfaction in your work.

Nursing Shortage

Nurses are needed - desperately needed in some areas. The nursing shortage that hit in the 1990s is expected to continue through 2020. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that more nursing professionals will be required in the next five years than professionals in any other occupation.

There simply aren't enough caring, qualified healthcare personnel to tend to the needs of our aging, booming population or to disaster victims. If you saw the tsunami survivors and felt the urge to ease their suffering, let your resolution be to help out in 2006.

Sources

• AACN - Media Relations
• Exploring Careers. JIST Publishing, Inc. 2003.
• "Lend a Helping Hand this Holiday Season!" by Cynthia M. Gonzalez. Orthopaedic Nursing 24.6 (Nov/Dec 2005).
• Occupational Outlook Handbook

About the Author
Wendy Croix, Ph.D. is a freelance writer, cultural critic and university professor. In her twenty years as a professional educator, Wendy has guided hundreds of students toward the careers of their dreams.

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