The ever changing world has created a demand for many professions, and one of the most sought after professions today is undoubtedly NURSING. This is strongly evident as the lists show a total of 1,000,000 job opportunities in the USA, UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and other parts of Europe. Therefore, when one looks for opportunities for migration, especially to the countries mentioned, NURSING is one of the best options, due to the tremendous demand. Therefore it is important to look at this large number of opportunity available in a NURSING career and FAQs, (Frequently Asked Questions) of this profession are as follows:

Dr.Kithsiri Edirisinghe

What is NURSING? : NURSING: American Nurses Association defines nursing as; "the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations."

The job role of a NURSING OFFICER has changed from "a person who merely carries out doctor's orders" , to "a professional who would possess critical and logical thinking and most importantly performs evidence based practice". Therefore, the picture of a nurse who only gives injections in a hospital has changed to a healthcare professional who takes major decisions in a patient's life and plays a major role in a healthcare professional team.

What are the Industry applications of NURSING? Unlike in Sri Lanka, internationally Nurses are today not limited to the healthcare environment, they venture into many sectors such as teaching, journalism, airline, travel agencies, travel companions, cruise ships, large corporations, factories, life insurance, sports teams, police, fire departments, exotic expeditions (polar and space) and even entry level politics. In the healthcare arena the opportunities have expanded further from the traditional hospital care to health administration, health education and promotion, family planning organizations, in-home elderly care, hospice care, hospital public relations, pharmaceutical research and sales, medical laboratories, medical research, medical quality assurance programmes, medico-legal assistants, nursing school faculty, dental assistants and hygienists, ambulance services and emergency medical technicians.

What are the career opportunities? The career options have expanded over the decades; there are 3 main categories in nursing care namely; Advanced Practice Nurse (AP), Registered Nurse, (RN) and Enrolled Nurse or License Practice Nurse (EN or LPN). An Advanced Practice Nurse (AP) holds a Master's Degree in a focused area and provides one-on-one patient care services similar to those a Physician would perform. A Registered Nurse is competent in all forms of nursing care and the LPN or EN would work as an Assistant to an RN. Some of the wide varieties of options in NURSING are given below:

1. Operational role , practising "nursing care"
A General Nurse would focus on all areas of medical care; a Pediatric Nurse - the nursing of children; a Geriatric nurse -the nursing of older adults -, a Mental Health Nurse - nursing of people with mental health problems ; a Learning Disability Nurse - the nursing of people with learning or developmental disabilities -; Critical Care Nurse - the nursing of people in acute care and long term care institutional settings; and Home Health Nursing- the nursing of people in their own homes. There are also specialist areas such as obstetrical / midwifery nursing, cardiac nursing, orthopedic nursing, palliative care nursing, peri-operative nursing, and oncology nursing or cancer care.

2. Research and Development
Research and Development in nursing practice and in healthcare are emerging areas. The job opportunities created are immense.

3. Quality and Risk Management
Nurses could take up risk mitigation, quality management and infection control in healthcare settings in quality management and supervisory positions.

4. Clinical Research:
Clinical research is a must in today's world where nurses need to practise evidence based practice taking clinical decisions. Many nurses supervise clinical trials and it is a fast growing industry.

5. Health Administration:
Many hospitals in the world are run by Nurses who have trained in health administration and they are the most sought after administrators since they have a better experience in the total health sector.

6. Academics
Opportunities for Nursing Lecturers have grown immensely due to the rapid increase in training institutions and Universities offering Nursing, one of the highest disived courses. Nurses could work as Lecturers and Professors in Universities and Colleges.

What is the remuneration in the NURSING PROFESSION? : Nursing salaries are very lucrative due to the current nursing shortage world over. Qualified nurses can find exceptional nursing career opportunities across the globe. The average salary structure across USA, UK and Australia are as follows: an Advanced Practice Nurse (AP), earns between USD 80,000 to 100,000 per annum, a Registered Nurse (RN) earns between, USD 60,000 to USD 70,000 per annum, an Enrolled Nurses (EN) earns between, USD 40,000 to 45,000 per annum.

Furthermore, the nursing shortage offers extremely advantageous opportunities for those already in the nursing profession to obtain a higher qualification and for fresh nursing students preparing to enter the workforce. Many hospitals are now offering incentive programmes such as: Recruitment bonuses (ranging anywhere from $2,000 to $20,000), relocation assistance, housing assistance, day care and tuition reimbursement for children and a choice of shifts.

What are the pathways to become a professional NURSE? There are Diplomas, Degrees and Postgraduate courses and these courses equip graduates with the knowledge and technical skills to work as a nurse. The pathways are as follows:

1. The Diplomas:
The Enrolled Nursing programme is a full-time programme spread over 24 months. There are pathway programmes available in Sri Lanka where a student could study 12 months here and complete the final 12 months in Australia. Diploma in General Nursing is a full-time programme extending up to 3 years. Of the programmes available in Sri Lanka, some are recognized by Australian, British and American Universities where they could opt for a degree in 1 or 2 years.

2. BSc Degree courses:
Bachelor's Degrees are the common choice of many and it is usually of 3 or 4 year duration. It is mandatory that a nurse should posses a BSc in Nursing to sit for the licensing exam for registration as an international RN.

In addition to the above, students completing nursing studies can also pursue combined degrees. Those including: Health development and policy, Health promotion and education, Midwifery, Nursing/Public health policy, Psychology.

3. Postgraduate programmes:
Upon completion of the graduate studies Nursing Professionals could opt for Master's and then Doctorate programmes specializing in the area of focus.

Source: Dr. Kithsiri Edirisinghe, MBBS, MSc, MD (Medical Administration) Cert. IV TAA Australia, Managing Director- International Institute of Health Sciences (IIHS) Email: drkithsiri@iihsciences.com