Career Project Plan: Why Nursing is not for Everyone

To beging with, I used to hate the idea of being a nurse. I only thought I should give it a try since I dreamed of working for the Red Cross, and it seemed like a sensible pathway. However, caring and making a difference in someone’s life is my passion. I think limiting myself based only on my personality type would make me regret my career choice in the long run. After finding out the roles and responsibilities of nurses, I am now more interested in what they do. However, why I chose nursing as my main career? As you can see from the essay, I am a very social person despite being an introvert. I love helping people and take pride in being able to make a change in a patient’s life.

Why I Chose Nursing: Job Descriptions, Required Education and Salary

Advance Practice Psychiatric Nurse

Advance practice psychiatric nurses diagnose medical conditions such as psychiatric disorders and mental health conditions. At times, they also prescribe medications as allowed by the state. They evaluate patient conditions, record change, and develop medical treatment plans for the patients. They collaborate with psychiatrists and other mental health professionals to provide psychiatric therapies to their patients. Outside the hospital setting, they conduct outreach programs developing health management plans or teaching health management classes. What about salary? According to Department of Labor statistics 2004-2018, the average salary for advance practice psychiatric nurses is $75,000.

The education of an advanced practice psychiatric nurse begins with a bachelor’s degree in nursing. Often, after nurses obtain their bachelor’s degree, they proceed to get a graduate degree in psychiatric-mental health nursing. This is while working as a registered nurse in various areas of health care and mental health care. They must take ongoing continuing education contact hours in areas such as diagnosis, psychotherapeutic treatment, or psychopharmacology.

Generally, in a Myers-Briggs test type, nurses belong in the Extraverted-Sensing-Feeling-Judging (ESFJ) personality type. They are characterized as being conscientious and loyal, working diligently to follow through on their undertakings.

Biochemists

Biochemists generally study the chemical compositions of living organisms, chemical reactions, or combinations that occur in life. Biochemistry may aim to expand scientific knowledge through basic research. However, if it aims to innovate an output to solve a problem or improve the quality of life, biochemists are required to do applied research. Due to the nature of the job, biochemists tend to spend more time inside laboratories. Some of their work include conducting experiments using complex equipment like lasers, analyzing biological samples, developing biological research methods, researching microbiological or chemical processes or structures, and preparing compounds or solutions for products or testing. However, biochemists’ jobs are not just limited inside the laboratory. At times, they are in a university sharing their knowledge by instructing college students about physical or life science. Based on the US News and world report website, in 2018, Biochemists earn an average of $93,280 a year. The best-paid 25 percent made $129,950 that year, while the lowest-paid 25 percent made $64,230 ('Biochemist ranks among best jobs of 2020,' n.d.)

For someone to become a biochemist, one must complete a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry, Chemistry, or Biology, and a master’s degree to obtain a specialization. If you want to further your career and delve into independent research and development, you must obtain a doctoral degree.

A biochemist is typically introverted, intuitive, thinking, and judging according to the Myer-Brigg’s test. The personality type best suited for a biochemist is the INTJ. Common characteristics which allow them to thrive as biochemists include a future-focused mindset, problem-solving capabilities, and extreme intelligence.

Personal Reflection and Conclusions

We can always plan, but the truth is we still do not know what can and will happen. However, I firmly believe in the universe’s law of attraction. I believe that when you earnestly want to make it happen, it will happen. Based off my personality test, the careers that are in my career inventory list indicated that the most suitable careers for me are medical laboratory technologist, copyreader, and architect. However, for my health career research, I chose to do Advance practice psychiatric nursing and Biochemistry. The difference in the results made me reflect if I should still be pursuing the careers I researched, or if they are the right choice for me. Although their nature is different, researching further about the health careers I wanted to pursue made me more interested in them.

My first career choice, Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nursing, is involved in the care of patients with mental health concerns. I realized that this career entails so much responsibility. To be able to satisfy the obligations and qualify for this career, the education and training for this path is also rigorous. one must finish a bachelor’s degree in nursing and then proceed to get a master’s degree for specialization. On top of that, you are continuously training and expanding your knowledge and experiences. I realized that this may be a factor why nursing may not be for everyone. Personality-wise, nurses typically are extraverted, sensing, feeling, and judging. In my personality test, I got ISFP or introverted, Sensing, Feeling, and Perceiving. I believe I can deliver my duties well since my personality is closer to the typical nurse. Caring is the core of nursing, so, even if I am introverted, I can transcend caring across my patients through my actions.

Biochemistry may not deal with humans directly, but it also deals with living organisms. This career deals with the chemistry of life. It also requires you to conduct experiments and frequent in laboratories. Just like nursing, biochemists also undergo rigorous education since after a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry, you need to attend graduate school for your specialization. To gain independence in your field, you must obtain a doctoral degree. Most biochemists are introverted, intuitive, thinking, and judging. After discovering this statistic, I personally gravitated more in this field.

Both careers are dedicated in bettering the quality of life. However, they most definitely differ in their methods and setting. The main difference is the direct recipient of service. Psychiatric nursing obviously involves hands-on patient interaction and requires more social skills. Biochemistry deals with specimens, data, and laboratory instruments. Therefore, most often than not, biochemists work individually. Despite this difference, they both need great attention to detail. In nursing, you must be attentive in all aspects of caring for your patient. One wrong dosage could kill your patient. In biochemistry, experiment results rely on the scientist’s accuracy and reliability. Otherwise, the results are not factual and useless. These factors are what I considered in my career choice.

On another note, it made me realize the importance of career research. After all, I will be doing this for the rest of my life. Therefore, I cannot just rely on inventory results, although they are extremely helpful. This is the reason why I could not agree with them.

After conducting my career research, I genuinely and badly want to be a nurse. I just had to get to know the career more. No matter how discouraging the path to this career will be, I believe it is the right career choice for me. My personality will only be one of the spices that will enrich my journey to becoming a psychiatric nurse. As they say: If there is a will, there is a way. However, if there is still none, you can always pave your own.

References

• Advanced practice psychiatric nurses :: Job description. (n.d.). MyPlan.com :. https://www.myplan.com/careers/advanced-practice-psychiatric-nurses/description-29-1141.02.html?sid=69b075018b2e58c32f032debc74adf93
• Biochemist job description, career as a biochemist, salary, employment. (n.d.). Job Descriptions and Careers, Career and Job Opportunities, Career Search, and Career Choices and Profiles - StateUniversity. https://careers.stateuniversity.com/pages/387/Biochemist.html
• Biochemist ranks among best jobs of 2020. (n.d.). https://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/biochemist
• Biochemists and biophysicists :: Articles. (n.d.). MyPlan.com :. https://www.myplan.com/careers/biochemists-and-biophysicists/articles-19-1021.00.html
• Biochemists and biophysicists :: Job description. (n.d.). MyPlan.com :. https://www.myplan.com/careers/biochemists-and-biophysicists/description-19-1021.00.html
• How to become a biochemist. (2016). EnvironmentalScience.org. https://www.environmentalscience.org/career/biochemist
• MBTI career | ESFJ career | Registered nurse career. (2020, August 3). Career Assessment Site. https://careerassessmentsite.com/myers-briggs-test/mbti-personality-types/esfj/careers/registered-nurse/myers-briggs-esfj-career/#:~:text=Individuals%20who%20possess%20an%20ESFJ,these%20characteristics%20includes%20registered%20nurss
• Myers-Briggs test | MBTI | INTJ careers | Biochemist. (2020, August 3). Career Assessment Site. https://careerassessmentsite.com/myers-briggs-test/mbti-personality-types/intj/careers/biochemist/myers-briggs-intj-career/
• Psychiatric-mental health nurses - www.apna.org. (n.d.). American Psychiatric Nurses Association - American Psychiatric Nurses Association. https://www.apna.org/m/pages.cfm?pageID=3292