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Nursing as a Career, Vocation, or Job?
Nursing as a Career, vocation or just a job is a question that may receive many different answers. In my own personal opinion, I think that Nursing could be all three for different people or even all three things for the same person. Is it so hard to believe that someone’s job is their career, and even that the person is lucky enough to have a career/job as their vocation in life? I think not. A job is something that one gets paid for, makes a living off of it and takes pride in their work. A career is a lifelong commitment to a job or line of work. You get paid for it, you sometimes get benefits and even get to retire. A vocation is a calling in life. It is God’s chosen area for one to work in or do. It is a special talent. “Individual nursing practice is determined by the career path selected and is dependent upon education, experience, work setting and geographical location. Nurses may follow their personal and professional interests by working with any group of people, in any setting, at any time. There is no profession which offers as many opportunities for diversified roles as does nursing.” (Sigma Theta Tau,2014)
“Using Blum’s model of vocations it is argued that such occupations are socially expressed within practices embodying traditions, norms and a range of meanings: industrial, social, personal and moral. Vocational workers are those who identify in certain ways with these traditions, norms and meanings.”(PubMed, 2002) “Nursing as a job requires not only treating patients who are sick and injured, but also offering advice and emotional support to patients and their families, taking care of paperwork (lots and lots of paperwork), helping doctors diagnose patients and providing advice and follow-up care.” (Snagajob,2014)