If you have been thinking about studying nursing, it may have come to your attention that more and more people are doing so online. This isn’t just a by-product of the general movement toward online education which emerged with COVID-19, but something which has been slowly developing over the last decade or so, simply because it is a more practical choice for many students. This article explains why getting a nursing degree online might be the right choice for you, and how you can make a success of it.
Take control of your life
Studying online is something you can do no matter where you are located, without having to move away from dependents, other family members, or your source of income, and without the cost attendant on commuting or renting additional accommodation close to a campus. You can begin discreetly if you wish, so you don’t need to worry about getting other people’s approval until you have had time to demonstrate that you can do well in your studies. You will also find that it’s considerably cheaper than paying for traditional, in-person learning, so you won’t have to worry about ending up with large debts. You can take control of your education without compromising secure aspects of your long-term situation.
Set your own schedule
When you study remotely, you will still have plenty of work to do, but you will have a lot more control over how you schedule it. You will be able to pick the hours when you watch lectures or work on assignments day to day and can decide which weeks to set aside for practical work, as well as deciding how best to free up studying time before exams. This makes it much easier to manage other responsibilities in your life and to work around immovable commitments. You can also improve the odds of being at your most alert and energetic when taking on the most challenging parts of your course, so that your exam results and assessments reflect your true potential.
Get great tuition and support
When you study in a traditional college, no matter how good it is, you will usually be limited to learning from people who are based there. When you study remotely, you can benefit from guest lectures by experts from all over the world, as the cost of this is made more manageable by the size of the audience: class sizes are not limited by how many people can be squeezed into a room.
This economy of scale also means that it’s easier to find other students who are facing the same challenges as you, and support can be arranged accordingly. All online courses now have forums where you can socialize with other students, and most have platforms where you can post questions and share answers. This creates a very flexible learning environment. As long as you are not shy about admitting when you are struggling, and as long as you have the courage to keep trying when you find something difficult, you’ll find this highly advantageous.
Don’t miss out on clinical experience
An online nursing program, such as the one at Holy Family University, offers all the great and necessary nursing experience that a traditional program offers but with more flexibility. Just because you are studying online doesn’t mean that you won’t be expected to undertake the same clinical hours as any other student – or that it will be harder to arrange them. Your tutors will advise you on how to reach out to hospitals or other medical institutions in your local area so that you can arrange a placement which is practical as far as both access and quality are concerned. Hospitals are now used to taking on students on this basis.
Starting your search early will give you more control over the process. You will have time to meet the people you could be working with in different places, and find one where you feel that you really fit in. The work will still be hard – it will take time to build up your physical fitness and your confidence, never mind your skills – but in the right team, you will find it much easier to stay positive.
Look forward to a great future
Getting a good nursing degree, no matter how you go about it, requires real dedication and effort, but it will be worth it. This is a profession with high rates of job satisfaction, as few things contribute more to our sense of well-being than helping others. What’s more, it’s a profession in which you will never struggle to find work. The aging population and the increase in disability caused by long COVID-19 mean that nurses are more in demand than ever, right across the country. There has never been a better time to qualify as a nurse and taking your degree online will put you in the driving seat from start to finish.
