Every year, the community, general public and healthcare sector takes some time to observe National Nurses Week. National Nurses Week officially begins on National Nurses Day, which is May 6th, and ends on May 12th, 2015. This year’s theme is “Ethical practice, Quality care.” Receptions and celebrations are often held throughout the week, to thank and honor those individuals who selflessly take care of others on a daily basis and have chosen to become professional nurses. The final day of Nurses Week is May 12th, which is the birthday of Florence Nightingale (1820-1910). She was an English nurse who quickly became known as the Founder of Professional Nursing).
As a tribute to National Nurses Week, we wanted to shed light on Arizona College’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing program and nursing as a professional career choice. We had the pleasure of interviewing the Dean of Nursing, Dr. Rose Saunders, who has experienced numerous nursing roles within her career.
Why should someone choose nursing as a career, and how has it been a rewarding career in your opinion?
Nursing is a rewarding career for both women and men. Nurses can work in a variety of settings such as:
- Hospitals
- Schools
- Prisons
- Physician’s offices
- Insurance companies
- Universities
- And many other places.
Nurses can change focus of where they work and the number of hours they work to fit changes in their lifestyle. Nurses generally have a passion for what they do and have a desire to help others.
Nursing has been a rewarding career for me for many reasons. I knew I wanted to be a pediatric nurse before I even entered my basic nursing program. I began my career by working on an infant unit at Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA. It was there that I had my first opportunity to teach student nurses. As I gained more experience, I returned to school and obtained a Master’s degree in Nursing of Children. This education gave me in-depth knowledge of both the physical and psychological needs of children from birth through adolescence. I was able to become a better teacher by sharing this knowledge with my students. Eventually, I became interested in the administrative side of nursing education and pursued a doctorate in higher education. It is most rewarding for me to see a student who enters a nursing program with little or no knowledge about nursing and progress through the program to graduation.
What have been some of the challenges during your professional career that you have overcame?
One of the first challenges I overcame was the decision to leave bedside nursing to enter nursing education. Most individuals become nurses to care for patients. Nursing faculty have the experience of being with their student’s patient, but lose the one on one relationship a nurse builds when she is assigned to care for the patient for the day. This was a hard decision for me since I had been a nurse for only a year before I began teaching.
What advice would you give a student who has just started their nursing program?
You need to have a passion for nursing and be willing to make the sacrifices needed to achieve your goal. As a nursing student, you need to have time management skills to meet the multiple deadlines required for assignments, classwork and clinical. You must be flexible and have a back-up plan for everything you do. You need to have a back-up plan for the back-up plan! It is important to be accountable and responsible for all actions and behaviors.
If someone were interested in enrolling in a Bachelor of Science in Nursing program, why would you recommend Arizona College?
The nursing program at Arizona College has small class sizes for personalized attention and a well-prepared faculty who will help you reach your goal!
Thank you Dr. Saunders for taking your time for this interview and we appreciate all you do for Arizona College and it’s nursing students. Thank you to all the people who have chosen the field of nursing and we hope you have a nice National Nurses Week. If you or someone you know is interested in becoming a Registered Nurse, contact Arizona College by completing a form or give us a call. It takes a special person to become a nurse, explore the possibility today!
Information in this blog post is accurate as of May 7, 2015.