Brown Mackie College (ARA) - As we look for signs of the economy to improve, many Americans are taking the opportunity to return to school. Some feel a college degree will provide better job security, and others look to study a new field altogether.

Nursing programs are attracting many new students. The demand for nurses is increasing for many reasons according to the 2002 report of the Health Resources and Services Administration, Bureau of Health Professionals. Among them is a rapidly aging population. As the baby boom generation ages, it will demand that more health care services be provided by more health care professionals. During the next 25 years, the over-age-65 population will increase at five times the rate of those under 65.

Three faculty members from Brown Mackie College - Kansas City, Kan. share their varied experiences in nursing and offer a closer look at career opportunities in the field.

Terese Plesser, nursing program director at Brown Mackie College - Kansas City, says, "A two-year associate's degree prepares graduates for entry-level positions at hospitals, clinics, and other medical facilities. From there a consideration is obtaining a bachelor of science in nursing degree, which widens career possibilities to management and education positions."

Nursing offers varied choices in terms of work settings and areas of concentration. Hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, hospices, physician's offices, and home health care companies all employ nurses. Sherry Payne is a Brown Mackie College - Kansas City faculty member who teaches obstetrics and pediatrics and brings rich nursing career experience to the classroom. With a bachelor's degree, she entered nursing with a focus on labor and delivery.

Finding great satisfaction in her work, she stayed within the field of obstetric care. She now teaches others who wish to enter the field. "I have great appreciation for my leap from a clinical setting to teaching. I see it as a way to expand on my personal vision of the world of maternity in a greater way," says Payne.

Personal vision seems to be a common thread running through nursing students today. "Many students show up after an encounter with nursing that has a lifelong impact," Payne continues. "A positive experience with the healthcare system plants a seed. They see nursing as a lifetime mission, not just a job. It's a passion, a true vocation."

Other examples of the diverse experiences a nursing degree can deliver are seen within the career of Pat Frost, a Brown Mackie College - Kansas City faculty member who also teaches obstetrics and pediatrics. She began her career in the U.S. Air Force as a nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit and spent time doing postpartum care. Back in civilian life, she worked with an ophthalmologist, then for several schools, as a special needs nurse and instructor of anatomy and physiology.

From there she returned to a clinical setting as an IV therapy nurse before coming back to education at Brown Mackie College. "I'm working now on a master's degree in nursing education," Frost says. "It is satisfying to see students come out of the classroom not only knowing facts and figures, but also learning about improving their lives."

These three professionals agree that nursing affords them opportunities to affect others in a positive way. "Nursing calls on many skills in a given day," says Plesser. "We are technologists dealing with medical equipment that changes frequently, diplomats dealing with sometimes difficult people, and educators telling patients about disease processes."

Interaction is a key component. Nurses interact with doctors, patients, families of patients, and each other. Payne adds, "Nurses are supportive of each other. We know when to delegate and when to collaborate. We sometimes work holidays and celebrate together. We become family."

Plesser says, "The nice thing about nursing is if you get tired of one thing, you can try something else in another area."

Courtesy of ARAcontent