Research Report on Nursing

Research Report on Nursing

Nadia Carlson

English 114

DY02

Instructor: Gary Hurley

November 23rd, 2015

Purpose:

The purpose of this report is to examine the many aspects of the nursing profession.

As an aspiring nursing student, I figured I would use this research assignment to gain more knowledge on the field in which I am interested, as it will give me more foresight into how nurses operate, what they are paid, and the general operational skills it takes to enter into a healthcare profession.

I originally become interested in nursing because of all of the different opportunities it offered with regards to schooling, subspecialties, and job demand. I am also drawn to the idea of helping people in both emotional and physical pain for a living. Although many people believe that nurses take second place to doctors, one online source states, “Nurses often need to work long hours under stressful conditions, which can result in fatigue, injury, and job dissatisfaction” (What is Nursing?”). In reality, they have much the same workload as physicians and often keep the same hours, but often lack the respect that many doctors get.

While sometimes underappreciated, nurses are critical to the hospital setting, and the recent shortage has led to such predictions as a downward spiral in patient care, a rise in costs surrounding labor and operating, and less time and resources to care for patients in need (Buerhaus). Because of this, I think it is critical to learn more about the nursing profession so that I can attempt to disprove these predictions once I start practicing.

Topics to be Investigated

Below are some of the issues and questions that I have addressed about the nursing profession.

1) What is the average salary for a registered nurse?

“Registered Nurse’s Salary” observes that both physical and occupational therapists bring home bigger annual paychecks than registered nurses, although RNs make significantly more money than licensed...