Has it been your dream to be a holistic nurse? If so, this is the place to be. Anyone interested in providing comprehensive care to patients may also consider it. However, like any other profession, ensure that you meet all the academic requirements to become a holistic registered nurse. We know that nothing good comes easy; thus, the need to put in all the work. There should be no room for second-guessing oneself because that only leads you to failure. Also, if you are new to this and need to know what being a holistic nurse entails, read on to find out more. The following is how you can become a holistic nurse.
Do A Degree
If you recently finished your secondary education and this is the path you wish to take, you are on the right track. This is because earning a degree will help you better understand holistic nursing. In addition, the skills you will acquire will help build your clinical experience. Everyone dreams of getting registered or licensed once they have earned a degree, and you are no different. However, for that to happen, you ought to have earned a two-year’s associate degree or a four-year bachelor’s degree in nursing. From the latter degrees, you will gain considerable skills and learn more about how to care for patients. There is no harm in researching programs in this field to ascertain that it goes hand in hand with your career goals beforehand. You can’t afford to do things blindly.
Get Registered
The next step after earning your degree would be to become a legally licensed registered nurse. This is done by taking the National Council Licensure Examination, also called the NCLEX-RN test. It is meant to evaluate how much healthcare ethics, nursing practices, treatments, and the healthcare industry knowledge you have garnered. Therefore once you pass the NCLEX-RN test, you become a licensed registered nurse. From here, you will be liable for entry-level nursing positions in many healthcare facilities. Isn’t that a good start? You start down going up, and there is beauty in that.
Gain Experience
After sending your application and getting a job as an entry-level registered nurse, your goal should be to gain work experience. This will make you competitive since you will gain the skills and expertise to work as a holistic nurse in a few years. It will, in turn, give you an upper hand over others without experience. Whether you get to sharpen your skills in a home or clinical setting, take the opportunity wholeheartedly. However, you must know that there is no shortcut to becoming a holistic nurse without gaining work experience: it is a process. Therefore take the initiative to look for nursing positions in holistic health initiative facilities and hospitals, to mention a few.
Consider Pursuing Further Education
We all know that pursuing further education is a form of investment in ourselves. Moreover, it makes us more marketable, which is a plus. Therefore, be more open-minded to pursuing other areas of education. Consider wellness coaching, meditation, and nutrition, to mention a few. They will open doors for you and make you more qualified than ever. You can also opt for graduate programs in the same field and take courses in theories and models.
Professional Certification
Although this is optional, prioritize getting a professional certification to be a holistic nurse. We refer to it as the cherry on the cake because it is a ticket to advancing your nursing career. If you are not planning to get to this step, you should know that some employers require professional certification.
The body that offers the latter is the American Holistic Nurses Credentialing Corporation. It offers four levels of this certification, all depending on your level of education. Some prerequisites you should know about before earning a certification include having a valid nursing license, gaining a year of experience, an application for certification and exam, and at least 48 hours of continuing holistic nursing-related education. You can dive deeper into this to find out more.
The above are the steps to becoming a holistic nurse. As you have seen, it is a process; thus, you have to practice patience while at it. Ensure that you constantly invest in yourself education-wise to ascertain that you always stand out in a room full of other holistic nurse-aspiring candidates. Also, after completing your education and gaining experience, apply for as many jobs as possible. Who knows? You could get your dream job sooner than expected; therefore, be aggressive and intentional, and it will come your way. If you are on the journey to becoming a registered nurse, give it your all and follow the advice we have provided you. We promise it will be worth it Therefore what are you waiting for? If you are wondering whether or not to get into holistic nursing, this is your sign of giving it a shot by contacting The Nurse Coach Collective.
