COVID-19 has caused significant impacts on the world’s healthcare system. It also highlighted the important roles and responsibilities of nurses and other frontline healthcare professionals in battling the pandemic. In the longer term when the population ages, there will be an increase in demand for nurses to manage the increase in healthcare needs such as chronic diseases. To provide quality care, nurses must be well equipped with the essential knowledge and skills to fulfil patients’ needs and improve patient care. It will also make a big difference if nurses are able to step up as healthcare leaders to tackle future challenges.
To meet the changing needs of the healthcare industry, nurses need to upgrade their skills through higher education and training to equip themselves with deeper knowledge and skillsets to lead improvement in care delivery. For nurses who aspire to advance their careers, taking up a nursing degree would also allow them to expand their career paths and prospects.
In this article, we highlight 5 Reasons Why You Should Pursue a Nursing Degree:
1. High demand for nurses with leadership skills
Leadership skills are essential to building a strong and high-performing team in nursing at all levels. Nurses with leadership skills are highly demanded – and more so during the pandemic situation because you will be in a better position to influence and inspire your peers and colleagues to perform their work more efficiently and achieve better outcomes in the work they do.
Other than making improvements in the workplace, you will be able to create a professional and more positive work environment for other nurses by leading them through positive influence and encouragement. This will lead to new and better nursing initiatives and improved nursing practices, bringing about a positive impact on the healthcare industry.
2. Becoming more than just a specialist – be an all-rounder
To advance in your career or speciality, besides being proficient in your clinical skills, it is also important to equip yourself with soft skills such as communications, teamwork, critical thinking, conflict resolution, etc. A nursing degree helps nurses develop both hard and soft skills to become an all-rounder who will excel in the workplace and advance in their careers.
3. Expands your career path
Obtaining a nursing degree enables you to pursue exciting career opportunities that are within and beyond the healthcare industry.
In Singapore’s healthcare industry, there are 4 main nursing career tracks: Education, Management, Clinical, and Research. Whether you choose to embark on a clinical or non-clinical career, the degree would empower you to apply your skills and knowledge to excel in your chosen field.
If you choose to pursue a career beyond the healthcare industry, your degree will open doors to various career options as your nursing knowledge and skills such as research, management, and education will be invaluable in many areas of expertise.
Image Source: Career Tracks for Nurses in Singapore, Ministry of Health Website
4) Keeping up with the digitalised era!
Technological advancements have been transforming the healthcare industry in unprecedented ways. The integration of new technologies allows healthcare workers to improve operational and clinical processes and provide better care and treatment for patients. Therefore, nurses need to upskill, stay relevant and equip themselves with the latest knowledge to ride the waves of technological disruption.
While taking a nursing degree, there will also be opportunities for nurses to network with their classmates from different specialities and learn the best practices from healthcare industry experts from Singapore and overseas. These opportunities will help to broaden your horizons and shape your perspectives on the healthcare industry.
5) Making a bigger difference
A nursing career is more than just a stable job and pay. Many nurses choose to enter this profession because they want to serve and make a difference by helping and caring for patients. Especially during critical situations such as the current pandemic, nurses are putting aside their fears and going beyond their call of duty to ensure patient’s health and well-being.
Many nurses like Bindeeya took on the responsibility to take care of COVID-19 patients, giving them the necessary support to bring them back to health.
King’s College London’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing with Honours (Top-up) programme is Open for Application!
The Bachelor of Science in Nursing with Honours (Top-up) post-registration programme is fully taught by staff from the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care at King’s College London. Teaching is delivered in a combination of classroom lectures and via the King’s e-learning online platform, KEATS.
The programme will equip you with the advanced, specialist knowledge to provide the best possible care, pioneer innovation and deliver improved outcomes for patients and their families. Graduating students will hold a degree from the No.1 Nursing Faculty in the UK and No. 2 in the world (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2021).
For more information about the programme, please click here