10 Interesting Facts About Registered Nurses You Must Know

1. Registered nurses have anywhere from a 2-8 year degree. One of the best things about nurses is that you can graduate with a 2-year degree and make enough money to support yourself and your family! You can take your education as far as you want, and most hospitals will foot some of the bill.
   
   
   
    
2. Most nurses make an average of $20-$38 dollars an hour. Not many nurses make less than that, but many make much more than that. And most nurses also make time-and-a-half for overtime.
    
3. Nurses can also be doctors. You can get a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) or a Doctorate in Nursing Practice (DNP) as nurse. I actually know a Doctor Nurse, who is a nursing instructor :-)
   
    
4. Nurses are consistently named one of the most trusted professions, year after year. Taking care of people during times of vulnerability allows nurses to form a special bond with their patients.
   
    
5. Most nurses are women.  Although there are plenty of male nurses, women still make up the majority of the nursing profession. This is one of my favorite things about nursing. I’m all about girl power!
   
    
6. Nurses are basically in demand everywhere.  An experienced nurse can really go anywhere they want and find a job. Talk about job security! There is a certain power knowing if you were forced to relocate, you probably wouldn’t have trouble finding a job.
    
7. There are a million different specialties to choose from. Afraid of blood? There’s a nurse out there that never sees it. Don’t like IVs? There’s a nurse out there that doesn’t ever insert one. Like a little adrenaline? You could be a flight nurse, or an ER nurse, or a labor and delivery nurse. Don’t want to take care of people at all? There are nurses for that as well!
    
8. According to the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are more than 35,000 back and other injuries among nurses every year.  There are so many opportunities for nurses to get hurt on the job. We are constantly pulling and pushing patients. We repeatedly bend over beds, straining our backs. We lift, we roll, we move people up in the bed. You will be hard-pressed to find a nurse who doesn’t retire with some sort of injury. My knee is throbbing as I’m typing this…
   
    
9. Most nurses have to obtain continuing education hours.  Once you become a nurse, you have to maintain your “nursing knowledge.” You can’t coast through your career, refusing to learn anything new. Because nursing is constantly evolving, you have to prove that you’re (trying) to keep up.
    
10. Researchers at the University of Maryland's School of Nursing found that 55 percent of 2,103 nurses surveyed were obese. Job stress and the effect of irregular work hours was cited as the cause. Irregular breaks to eat (if any at all) also has to be some sort of contributing factor. All I know it, I have a few pounds I could lose and I’m always battling job stress.