Summary Nursing-School-Entrance-Exams-4th-Edition (2)

1 NURSING SCHOOL ENTRANCE EXAM PLANNER CHAPTER SUMMARY In this chapter, you will learn about career opportunities in nursing and what to expect on the job, as well as essential information about choosing and getting into the nursing school of your choice. You will also find out about the types of entrance tests that nursing schools use to select students. I f you enjoy caring for others and interacting with a wide range of people, and if you cope well when confronted with challenges, nursing is a great career choice. Nursing is also a secure profession with excellent starting salaries and very good job prospects. Job opportunities in nursing abound—r egistered and licensed practical nurses fill more than 4 million jobs, making up the largest healthcare occupation in the nation. And the need for nurses is likely to continue to soar—many of today’s nurses are beginning to retire, leaving thousands of job openings. The U.S. population as a whole is aging too, and because older people require more nursing care, the demand for skilled nurses willing to work on the front lines of patient care will also increase. Technological advances in medical care, which allow more medical conditions to be treated, and an emphasis on preventive care also create a greater demand for nurses. As you consider your future in nursing, think about these facts: ■ More new jobs are likely to be created for registered nurses than for any other occupation. ■ Employers in some areas of the country report a nursing shortage, spurring efforts to attract and keep nurses on staff. ■ Hospital outpatient facilities—like same-day surgery centers or rehabilitation centers—offer the most rapid growth in nursing jobs. 1 –NURSING SCHOOL ENTRANCE EXAM PLANNER – To become a nurse, you need to pursue one of often work in a specific hospital department, such three educational routes—a bachelor’s degree, an asso- as pediatrics, emerg ency care, or oncology. ciate’s degree, or a hospital diploma. You may also con- ■ Office nurses work in doctors offices, clinics, outsider becoming a licensed practical nurse (LPN), patient surgical centers, and emergency medicine which requires only one year of training in a vocational clinics. Their job tasks include assisting with or technical school and can be a stepping stone to exams and minor surgeries, giving medications, becoming a registered nurse. Most nursing programs and dressing wounds. They may also do office require that you take an entrance test, and that’s where work and maintain patient records. this book comes in. Nursing School Entrance Exam was ■ Nursing facility nurses provide care for residents designed from real tests, including the admissions test in nursing homes or long-t erm rehabilitation you will face to get into the program of your choice. By centers. They monitor residents’ progress, develop tailoring your study plan using the information in this treatment plans, and oversee nursing aides and book, you can achieve your best score and begin the licensed practical nurses. path of your desired career—t raining to become a ■ Home health nurses work in the patients’ own nurse. homes. They give medications, check the patient’s condition and environment, and instruct patients and caregivers about care and treatment. They Career Opportunities may supervise home health aides. in Nursing ■ Public health nurses work on the community level in schools, government agencies, retirement comRegistered nurses (RNs) provide direct patient care munities, or other settings. They educate the puband serve as health educators to promote wellness and lic about health promotion and disease prevent disease. In giving care, they monitor and prevention strategies in areas like nutrition, record patients’ symptoms and progress, give medica- smoking cessation, or childcare. tions, assist in rehabilitation, and teach patients and ■ Occupational health nurses provide care to families about proper care practices. They assist physi- employees at work locations, giving emergency cians in everything from routine exams and treat- treatments, providing health counseling, or idenments to surgery. There are limits to what a nurse tifying potential health problems in the work d oes, determined by state regulations. But the factor e nvironment. that most influences a nurse’s daily workload is the type of healthcare facility in which he or she works. Most RNs earn , on average, $73,000 annually, Nurses work in a range of settings: hospitals, doctor’s with the highest paid receiving more than $ 90 ,000 offices, outpatient surgical centers, nursing homes, annually. Nurses who earned the highest average schools, or work sites. Home health nurses even work salaries worked in employment services, followed by in patients’ homes. The following is an overview of hospitals, home healthcare services, physicians’ what you can expect on the job, depending on your offices, and nursing care facilities. work setting. Licensed practical nurses (LPNs) care for patients under the supervision of a physician or registered ■ Hospital nurses make up the largest group of nurse. They provide routine bedside care, such as taknurses. They provide bedside care for hospitalized ing vital signs, preparing injections, applying patients, observe and record symptoms, and dressings, or collecting testing samples. They also aid administer treatments and medications. They patients with feeding, dressing, and bathing. In nursing facilities, LPNs may evaluate the needs of residents and