Show your children that nursing is an advantageous career for some.
••• nurse image by Vasiliy Koval from Fotolia.com

Children should become familiar with different careers to help them discover their passions. You can educate children about nursing as a career to show them the reasons some people decide to become nurses. Encourage your children to stay ambitious with their dreams by helping them explore career options. One of the most difficult parts of growing up is determining what you want to be. You can help your children ease into adulthood by demonstrating the advantages and drawbacks of various careers, including nursing.

Elementary School Children

Take into consideration the background of the young children who you are educating. Make note of whether any of the children have religious beliefs about medicine. In addition, be aware of any children who have lost family members and if they have ill family members at home.

Find out what the children already know about nursing and what they would like to know. Don't repeat facts the children already know. Make bullet points of information the children want to know so you do not forget to examine certain facts during your presentation.

Demonstrate that nursing is a career both genders can enter. Some children might gain an idea from watching television that only women are nurses. Show the children photographs of male nurses by doing an internet search and finding some images of male nurses you can print for them.

Focus on how nurses enhance healthy living instead of showing that they discourage disease. Some young children may become upset by learning about disease and death. Reveal that nurses encourage people to eat well and exercise, which can make people feel strong throughout their lives.

Keep the attention of the children by dressing in scrubs with a surgical mask. Some children are visual learners. In addition, you can encourage the children to pretend to be nurses in their play time.

Middle School Children

Show fourth- through eighth-graders that the information they learn in school is applicable to a career in nursing. Demonstrate that the math and science courses children take can help in college level classes. In addition, tell the children that tutoring is available in college in case they have trouble in math and science courses.

Bring in props a nurse might utilize. Have some instruments that children can look at, and tell them how the instruments are used. For instance, bring in a stethoscope and let them use it to listen to the internal sounds a body makes.

Describe the average day of a nurse. You can demonstrate that nurses work in a variety and fields that require different skills. For instance, a nurse working in a nursing home has duties that are different from the skills required for a nurse working in an emergency room.

Examine the qualifications a person needs to become a nurse. Children come from different backgrounds, and they have goals unique to their situations. You can show them where to find a school guidance counselor to discuss the level of education they want to pursue to become a nurse.

Help the children who seem interested in choosing nursing as a career plot out a path to become a nurse. Middle school children are beginning to be future-oriented, and they might enjoy setting goals. You can help the children set short-term goals, including pursuing hospital volunteer work in high school.

High Schoolers

Demonstrate that nurses can help patients in emergency situations. High schoolers can understand the way nursing as a career is significant to the betterment of society. For instance, detail how a nurse could help when a teenager comes in to the emergency room after a car wreck.

Educate teens about the financial benefits of taking a job in nursing. Some teens already have jobs while in high school, and they might find that a good salary encourages them to take a position in nursing. Examine the average yearly income for a nurse, which was $75,330 in May 2020.

Examine the specific steps a high school student can take to prepare for a career in nursing. For instance, outline the course requirements for associates, bachelors, and masters degrees in nursing. Provide the students with information about filling out financial aid applications.

Show high schoolers that they can take immediate action to prepare for a career in nursing. Encourage the students to pursue volunteer work and internships in hospital settings. In addition, the students can sign up for AP courses in science and math to begin college course work in high school.

Encourage high schoolers to think about the emotional level of the nursing career. A student who may be considering another field that requires ambition needs to understand that the medical field lets nurses make a difference. Show images of nurses working with babies, children, adults and the elderly to demonstrate that nurses help many people.

Do not overwhelm young children with some of the requirements. For instance, young children should not hear that nurses heal people hurt from car crashes if they cannot handle hearing about grave circumstances.

You cannot force a child into any career. Make learning about nursing as a career entertaining. You should never pressure a child to enter a career in which he is not interested.

2020 Salary Information for Registered Nurses

Registered nurses earned a median annual salary of $75,330 in 2020, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Specialty Average Annual Salary

Government

$84,490

Hospitals; state, local, and private

$76,840

Ambulatory healthcare services

$72,340

Nursing and residential care facilities

$68,450

Educational services; state, local, and private

$64,630

In 2020, 3,096,700 people were employed in the U.S. as registered nurses.

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