Registered Nurse Alaska

The registered nurse is a person trained in a wide variety of medical procedures, who often works in a hospital or health care clinic. There are over 2.4 million registered nurses, and three out of five work in hospitals. The job description of a registered nurse is quite broad—they are responsible not only for hospital treatment and procedures for most of the patients that enter the hospital, but they are also responsible for informing patients on proper follow-up treatment, when and where to receive certain drugs, for health screening, for informing people of blood drives, for immunization, and even for providing medical advice and support. Registered nurses may specialize in certain fields, such as in the care of pediatrics or geriatrics, in which case they may receive additional, focused training and work in a specialized facility.

Registered nurses are required to receive extensive training and certification in order to practice in their field. Nurses who choose to work in specific settings, such as in nursing homes, physicians’ offices, etc, will receive special training to perform their specific tasks. For instance, nurses who are employed in a nursing home must understand how to care for the elderly and disabled in a variety of specific ways, depending on the residents and their needs.

Some registered nurses specialize in other fields, such as in substance abuse support, in development disabilities, in rehabilitation, and with diabetic patients. Nurses working in any of these fields must possess the necessary knowledge to effectively care for patients with the specific problems. For example, in rehabilitation circumstances, the registered nurse must understand what kind of daily regimen the patient must maintain, and must be prepared to assist in any physical or mental activities the patient requires related to rehabilitation (which may be after surgery, or in regaining lost motor control, or in any other circumstances).

Because of the skills and knowledge required, registered nurses can earn respectable salaries. Depending on the location, the type of health care facility, and the availability of registered nurses in that area, nurses may earn anywhere from $50,000 to $70,000 per year. Some registered nurses earn well over $80,000 per year for their work, and most nurses also receive additional bonuses, with child care and educational expenses provided for. In general, registered nurses working in hospitals receive the highest salaries, with home healthcare facilities and nursing home nurses receiving the lowest salaries. This is a relative generalization, however—salaries ultimately depend on factors such as the size and funding of the facility, the population of the urban area, and the relative demand for registered nurses.

The work requirements and environment of a registered nurse may be as varied as the spectrum of available positions to the RN. Since there are so many different areas to work in, and so many different specialties, the registered nurse can expect a wide variety of work conditions, requirements, and environments. Working in a hospital in an intensive care unit will likely be much different than working in a rehabilitation center or a nursing home. For example, registered nurses working in a home care clinic may have to have much more extensive knowledge concerning drugs and their proper administration than the nurse working with pediatric patients. Of course, since no two patients are alike, the opposite may be true as well. It is likely that the registered nurse will have to receive training specific to whatever work conditions he will experience on a daily basis. This training may often be best obtained at the same facility in which he will be working.

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