Nursing is the kind of career that everyone has some understanding of. Whether they know a nurse, have experienced being a patient in a hospital or in a clinic, have a relative or friend who has been unwell and had a nurse help them, or even if they have considered becoming a nurse themselves, most people will know something about what it takes. What they will not know is all the hard work that goes into becoming a nurse, and the work that needs to continue to be the very best you can possibly be.
This is where a degree in nursing is so useful. Yet with so many time pressures and so much else happening, studying can sometimes take a back seat. It does not have to, however, no matter what your current circumstances might be. If you want to become a nurse, you can become one. An online nursing degree could be the answer.
In this modern world, it seems as though any degree that can be studied online now is. There must be a reason for this, and when it comes to nursing, there are actually several reasons that make choosing to study an online degree the best option, so read on to find out more.
Flexible and Convenient
An online nursing degree from Marymount University is flexible and convenient. It means you can study around your own schedule so no matter how busy you are, or what else you are doing, you can still earn your degree in nursing and go on to have the fulfilling career you have always wanted.
The fact that you can work from home, or anywhere with an internet connection, is also extremely convenient. If you have a full-time job to go to, you can study in your lunch break, for example, or if you have to take the train or bus into work, you can study then. Or pick a time that suits you better – some people can do more first thing in the morning, and others are much better suited to working late at night. You can juggle your job, family, and other commitments and still find time to study for your nursing degree when you take an online course.
Career Advancement Opportunities
A nursing degree taken online isn’t just for those who want to become nurses but were never able to commit to a full-time college course, or who want to come to nursing later in life; it’s also for those who are already nurses and who want to advance their careers.
It is possible to take additional nursing qualifications online so that you can study for a promotion in your spare time, ensuring you can pass the exams, gain the qualifications, and show your manager that you are competent in the job.
When it comes to nursing, some people are happy to remain on one level, enjoying the job and being with the patients, quite content to be there until they retire. Some, however, do have other ambitions and want to go further, but with nursing being such a full-on job with little time to rest, studying for the new qualification required can be difficult. With an online degree, this now becomes entirely possible and is something that can mean opportunities open up that were never there before.
An Interactive Learning Experience
The joy of an online nursing degree is that it can often be a lot more interactive than sitting in a lecture hall and listening to a tutor talk. The wonderful thing about an online course is that you will have much better access to faculty members and your own personal tutor, so if you have a question you can ask it and know it will be answered. This might not always be true at a brick and mortar college where there are so many people your question might easily get lost in the crowd.
You will usually find that you can have regular one to one discussion with your tutor when you are studying an online course, and this will help immensely. Imagine the difference between having this one to one discussion time and being in a crowded room with potentially hundreds of other people; it simply does not compare.
The more focused your learning experience is, the more you will learn. You may feel more secure in a smaller group, and you will also be able to concentrate better. Plus, you will have the opportunity to ask as many questions as you need and get the answers that will help you achieve a higher grade or understand something much more easily.
An Excellent Education
There might have been something of a stigma attached to leaning online, and when it came to nursing, there was concern from those who had learned the ‘old fashioned way’ that online learning just wasn’t as good as a traditional college education would be.
Just as in the traditional route, there are good colleges and bad colleges, and the degree you study for is going to depend somewhat on the college you choose. This is why you need to ensure you have applied for the college that is going to help you the most; where do you feel you are going to get the best education? When you have chosen the right college for you, the truth is that an online nursing degree is just as good as an offline one, and in some cases, it can be even better.
One of the best things about studying online is that you have a much wider choice when it comes to which college to work with. Unlike the traditional college where there are going to be restrictions on location (especially if you are going back to school to learn nursing, but you also have a family to take care of ), but this is clearly not the case when you study online. So, you have a lot more choice, and that means your degree is definitely going to suit you.
Make the Most of Your Time and Money
When you are studying for your nursing degree at the same time as working, whether that’s working in a medical environment already, or you’re doing something completely different, you’ll know that time is at a premium. If you are studying for your online degree at the same time as running a household, you will know that money is also an essential factor. Is it these two elements that can often stop people from applying to a college to study nursing even if they feel it is exactly what they want to do.
When you study online, you can definitely save time. You don’t have to commute to a college to learn, you can do it at your own pace most of the time, and you can even continue to study should your work schedule change, or a family emergency occurs.
As for money, you’ll be saving on gas or tickets for public transport to get to and from college, you don’t have to pay for food or lodgings, and you can even check books out of a virtual library (or at least find all the information you need online), so in effect, you could study the theoretical part of nursing without having to leave the house at all. This is ideal for those who have very little time but know that nursing is definitely the career for them.
A More Confident Student
There are extroverts, and there are introverts, and you will know which one you are immediate. Extroverts are going to love the idea of going to a traditional college – it will bring them joy to be around other people and to have fun as well as study. Introverts may not like the idea of this at all; some people are timid or just do not like partying or being with other people much. This doesn’t mean they won’t make good nurses (in fact, they can make excellent nurses since they are quiet and often have a good ability to listen), but it does mean they can find traditional colleges challenging to deal with.
An online course means that even the shyest and least confident of people can gain a nursing degree and become a wonderful nurse at the end of it. In fact, studying online, being able to talk to tutors and maybe even other students in a virtual setting, can improve people’s confidence, and by the time they graduate they will be much more comfortable in the presence of other people.
There are many different benefits to studying for an online nursing degree. No matter what your reasons, if you want to be a nurse then you should look into online degrees right away; you might be able to do what you’ve always wanted to do much sooner than you think. It will take commitment and hard work, but it will be worth it when you can help people every day.
