Many Americans are employed in the healthcare field, but they don’t all wear scrubs. The job you choose should reflect your passions and aptitudes. Vocational nurses are in demand. Still, it takes a certain blend of skills and personal qualities to succeed in the nursing field. These signs suggest that a clinical role as a vocational nurse might be right for you.
Why Do People Work in the Healthcare Sector?
The motivations for working in the medical field vary, we all want something different from a career. Jobs in the healthcare industry have both personal and practical benefits that are too good to ignore, such as:
Personal Fulfillment
Many students are drawn to the healthcare sector because they want to make a difference. You can help others in any field, but as a healthcare professional, you’ll care for the sick and injured on a more impactful level. The emotional rewards are profound.
An Intellectual Challenge
Healthcare is a complex and continually evolving field. If you’re bored in your current job, medicine is an intellectually stimulating career. Only through continuing education can workers keep up with advances in research and technology. Only lifelong learners are encouraged to apply.
Job Security
As other industries wither, the medical sector is growing. Increasing demand for healthcare services is anticipated for decades to come. Nursing is a stable career with prospects that won’t be erased by technological advances. So, if you’re searching for stability in life, it’s a logical choice.
A Quick Start
Some roles in the healthcare field take years to train for, while others require only a vocational school diploma. If you’re frustrated with your current job but don’t have a decade to spend in the classroom, a new career as a vocational nurse could be just months away.
11 Signs Vocational Nursing Might Be for You
Working in the medical field is a rewarding career choice for people with a passion for wellness. However, not all jobs in the healthcare sector require the same skillset or personal qualities.
Vocational nursing could be a good fit if you are:
Empathetic
Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. A critical aspect of social and emotional intelligence, it allows you to connect with others on an emotional level and respond to their needs in a meaningful way. If you tend to put yourself in others’ shoes and imagine what they might be experiencing, it’s a good sign that you’ll make a great vocational nurse.
Observant
Being observant means you’re aware of your surroundings and attentive to details. Using only your eyes and ears, you tend to notice things that others overlook. As a nurse, being observant helps you gather, analyze, and interpret the data necessary to make sound clinical decisions.
Self-Aware
Vocational nurses are professional caregivers, they’re responsible for their practice. Success requires constant self-evaluation and awareness of how your actions impact patients and peers. You need to be honest with yourself about your strengths and weaknesses.
Patient
Patience is the ability to stay calm and positive during difficult situations. As a nurse, you’ll face many. You must control your fear and annoyances to help patients face their health challenges— it’s an important part of helping them get better.
Flexible
Nursing is never boring because no two days are alike, emergencies are the rule in medicine, not the exception. Shifts rarely go as anticipated, and you’ll need to go with the flow without becoming overwhelmed. To be flexible means to be adaptable and willing to adjust your plans and behaviors to when unexpected situations occur, or circumstances change.
Dedicated
Nursing is a demanding profession that can require long hours and hard work. Some positions are less demanding than others, but 12-hour shifts with on-call and overtime requests are common. If you have a strong work ethic and are willing to put in the effort, it’s a wonderful opportunity to gain experience and develop your career. The more dedicated you are, the faster and farther you’ll go.
Open-Minded
Nurses are asked to be culturally competent, to embrace different viewpoints and approaches to healthcare without prejudice or judgment. Not everyone shares the same worldview, beliefs, and cultural practices. But in medicine, the patient is always in the driver’s seat.
Being open-minded is also essential for nurses in a busy, collaborative environment. Being receptive to constructive feedback helps you grow as a person and a professional.
A Critical Thinker
Nurses must be able to analyze complex medical situations and make informed decisions quickly and accurately. It’s a skill some people are born with, but it requires knowledge to cultivate. A vocational school education and experience are all that most people need to master the art of critical thinking.
Team-Oriented
Nurses collaborate with doctors, therapists, nutritionists, paraprofessional staff, and other nurses. If you enjoy working closely with others toward a common goal, you’ll thrive in the healthcare industry. And with team spirit also comes camaraderie and a supportive work environment, someone always has your back.
A Good Communicator
Effective communication skills are a must for building trusting therapeutic relationships. Nurses need to convey both information and emotions to patients and their families.
The key characteristics of a good communicator include being an active listener, giving speakers your undivided attention so you can express genuine understanding. As a frontline educator, you also need to project confidence when answering questions and explaining complicated medical topics.
Practical communication skills, such as good grammar and spelling, are also vital. When taking doctor’s orders, for example, even minor transcription errors can have serious health consequences. And other medical professionals rely on nurses’ notes to evaluate patient progress, so writing should be clear, concise, legible, and accurate.
Compassionate
Compassion is practical empathy, the desire to ease the misery and suffering of others. A visceral response, it’s the cornerstone of nursing practice.
Expressed in many different ways, compassion involves taking the time to understand and connect with patients. As a vocational nurse, it helps you establish trust and build rapport with physically and emotionally vulnerable people.
Final Thoughts
Having the right motivation, skills and personal characteristics helps predict success in the healthcare field. However, the signs that you’ll be a good nurse aren’t always obvious. That is because some qualities need knowledge and time to bloom while others require a certain environment in which to grow. If you feel drawn to become a vocational nurse, introspection is critical, but don’t let fear and self-doubt hold you back. If you believe you can do it, you can.
Licensed Vocational Nurse
Classes for the Vocational Nursing program are conducted in a student-friendly atmosphere conveniently located in Austin, Texas. After graduating from the Licensed Vocational Nursing program, students can apply to take the National Council Licensure Examination for Practical Nurses (NCLEX-PN), become a Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN), and start their exciting new career immediately.
Contact us today to learn more about our CyberTex campuses.