There is also great opportunity for personal rewards with a nursing as a career. For instance, when you choose nursing as a career, every day you have the chance to make a real difference in somebody's life. Whether it's as simple as making an ill patient's day a little brighter, or as profound as helping save someone's life, nursing as a career can provide immense satisfaction!

Nursing Offers Diverse Career Paths
Today's nurse is no longer confined to the bedside. Nurses today are making their presence felt in areas as diverse as legislation, changes in health care delivery systems, writing and publishing, disease prevention education and health promotion, and boards of directors. Listed below are just a few of the career paths nurses have taken:

• Private ventures
• Collaborative practice
• Alternative care
• Teaching 
• Community care
• Journalism
• Business
• Sales and marketing
• Law
• Informatics

Nursing Careers Offer Great Salaries
Contrary to popular belief, nurses earn highly respectable salaries. According to the US Department of Labor, the "median annual earnings of a registered nurse was $52,330 in May 2004," with the middle 50 percent earning between $43,370 and $63,360. And the numbers for Nurse Practitioners and Nurse Anesthetists are even better. On average, Nurse Practitioners earn $71,000 while Nurse Anesthetists earn $113,000. When you choose nursing as a career, you can get these salary benefits as well.

Nursing Careers Offer Flexibility
Choosing nursing as a career also allows for flexibility on several levels. You're able to work any time of day, and choose whether to work 4, 8, 10, or 12 hour shifts. This flexible schedule allows you to work just weekends, or just week days, or a combination of week days and weekends. Plus, many employers offer child care to help you manage work and family hours.

Nursing as a career also offers flexibility in terms of location. From downtown urban hospitals to more relaxed suburbs and quiet rural locations, a nursing career can bring you to the area of your choice. You can even work on Indian Reservations or remote outposts in Alaska. Not to mention that many employers offer educational benefits to help advance your career as a nurse for even more choices about where you work later in your career.

From earning advanced degrees that allow for career advancement to trying different fields of nursing, a nursing career is always challenging, and provides opportunities for continual growth.