Registered Nurse
Registered nurses (RNs) provide care, treatment, counseling and health education to ill or injured people. They also provide education to individuals and families to promote health and prevent injury and illness. They monitor their patients' conditions, give them medications and treatments prescribed by a physician and communicate with the doctor and other members of the health care team to care for patients. Nurses direct and supervise nursing support personnel. Nurses may work in a certain specialty area such as intensive care, surgery or obstetrics, or with special populations such as children, the elderly or persons with disabilities.
WORK ENVIRONMENT
Due to the changing environment for delivering health and illness care, today's nurses are found in acute care hospitals, sub-acute settings, rehabilitation and long-term care facilities, retirement communities, health maintenance organizations, ambulatory care clinics, specialized outpatient clinics, urgent care, birthing centers, schools, mental health settings, home health and hospice care.

HIGH SCHOOL PREPARATION
General college preparation is recommended: Three courses in math including algebra I, algebra II and geometry, or a higher level math course for which algebra II is a prerequisite; three science courses including one biological science, one physical science and one lab course; four English units and two social studies units, including one in U.S. History; and two years of foreign language.

ACADEMIC REQUIREMENTS
To become qualified as a registered nurse, you must complete an accredited professional nursing program. This may be at hospital-based diploma programs, at the community college level (which awards an Associate Degree in Nursing [ADN] or an [AAS] Associate of Applied Science ), or at the baccalaureate level, which awards a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). The ADN program usually takes about two years; the bachelor’s degree generally requires four years of college (some university nursing programs accept transfer credit from community colleges). To work as a nurse, you must pass The National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses.

AVERAGE STARTING SALARY
$25,000 - $35,000 for hospital RNs.