The Benefits of Making a Career Change to Nursing

Nursing

The Benefits of Making a Career Change to Nursing

Written by: University of Tulsa • Dec 4, 2025

A Nurse Wearing Scrubs Visits a Young Patient in a Hospital Bed..jpg

If you’ve been contemplating a switch to a new career, you’re not alone. Nearly 70% of workers in the United States either changed or thought about changing careers in 2024, according to a survey conducted by FlexJobs. The demand for flexible work was cited as the top reason, and a career change to nursing can provide that flexibility.

Nursing is among the new occupations that individuals are entering, offering rewarding work, flexible hours, steady employment, and attractive compensation. Nurses are the foundation of the country’s health care system, and nursing can be a deeply fulfilling career.

If you’re considering a career change to nursing, you can enroll in a nursing program to explore the field of nursing and the advantages of the profession in more detail.

Trends in Nursing Program Enrollment

Enrollment in almost every type of nursing degree is growing, according to a 2025 article published by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). This trend has held for Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN; both accelerated and traditional), Master of Science in Nursing (MSN), and Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs across the nation.

BSN program enrollment increased by 4.9%, or 12,434 additional students.
Registered Nurse to Bachelor of Science in Nursing (RN to BSN) program enrollment increased by 1.6%, or 1,409 additional students, after five consecutive years of decline.
MSN program enrollment increased by 4.8%, or 6,308 additional students.
DNP program enrollment increased by 2%, or about 936 additional students, marking 21 years of continued growth.

Reasons for Making a Career Change to Nursing

There are many reasons to explore a career change to nursing. Below are some examples of the reasons you might consider pursuing a career in the field.

A Desire to Help Others

If you want to make a difference in other peoples’ lives and support them in living healthy lifestyles, you might consider the switch to a nursing career. This calling not only makes nursing a fulfilling career, but it also brings nurses a great deal of respect. According to a 2024 Gallup survey, despite Americans’ ratings of professions remaining historically low, nurses continued to rank the highest, with 76% of participants rating nurses’ honesty and ethical standards either high or very high.

Exposure to Nursing through Personal Experiences

You may also be motivated to enter the nursing profession because of personal experience or witnessing the experiences of family members. If you have been impacted by nursing care, you may be inspired by their critical health care role and pursue a nursing role yourself.

The Ability to Specialize

Nursing comprises many areas of specialization, allowing you to pursue career paths that align with your interests.

If you have a strong desire to provide health care to infants, you can specialize in neonatal nursing.
If you’re interested in providing end-of-life care, you can specialize in hospice nursing.
If you want to promote community health and wellness, you can specialize in public health nursing.

Career Stability and Advancement

You may also be drawn to the practical aspects of the profession. Favorable job prospects and competitive salaries are both attractive features of a career in nursing. Combine those attributes with the potential for flexible scheduling, and a nursing career can become even more desirable. Nurses also have extensive opportunities for career advancement, which can appeal to you if you want to climb the career ladder.

What Are the Benefits of a Nursing Career?

There are many benefits to making a career in nursing. They include the opportunity to impact patient wellbeing, career outlook, and advancement opportunities.

The Opportunity to Improve Patients’ Lives

Improving patient lives is one of the most significant benefits of being a nurse. Numerous studies have illustrated the positive impact nurses have on patients’ health and well-being.

Health interventions led by nurses in hospital settings were effective in improving outcomes, according to a 2025 paper published in the Journal of Clinical Nursing. Preventive interventions, such as early-warning scores, showed positive effects and were easy to implement, improving patients’ overall quality of life.
Systematic reviews have consistently shown that care led by nurse practitioners (NPs) rivals the quality of care provided by physicians, according to the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP). Additional research from AANP links NP care with decreased anxiety and depression, as well as other positive mental health outcomes.

However, a nurse’s obligations go beyond direct patient care and include responsibilities that prioritize patients’ health and safety. For example, nurses can do the following:

Help patients make informed decisions. Nurses strive to ensure that patients have the information they need to make informed decisions about their health care. As the primary point of contact for many patients, nurses often provide information about patients’ conditions and explain treatment options to patients and their families.
Advocate for their patients. Nurses act as patient advocates. When they observe unsafe or inadequate health care practices, they have an obligation to act in their patients’ best interests. In addition, nurses promote a culture of safety that helps ensure that health care organizations investigate and manage medical errors and near misses appropriately.
Work to reduce health disparities. Nurses act in concert with other health care professionals to identify ways to reduce disparities in health care and eliminate barriers to care.

Strong Salary Potential and Job Growth

A career change to nursing may appeal to you if you’re seeking stable employment, a good salary, and a flexible work schedule. These practical perks are among the many other benefits of being a nurse.

Career Outlook

The nation’s ongoing nursing shortage means there are ample employment opportunities for nurses and the potential for steady employment. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects that the U.S. health care system will have:

Approximately 189,100 new openings for registered nurses (RN) each year through 2034, representing workforce growth of about 5%.
Approximately 32,700 openings for nurse anesthetists, nurse midwives, and nurse practitioners each year through 2034, an astonishing 35% rise in employment among these advanced practice nursing professions.

Registered nurses (RNs) will be needed across all health care settings over the next decade, according to the U.S.Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Additionally, a trend toward providing more health care in patients’ homes and in residential facilities will drive increased demand for RNs in those settings.

NPs can be particularly helpful in addressing the ongoing shortage of primary care physicians and mental health professionals, driving the massive employment growth projected by the BLS. Their services are especially crucial in rural areas, where access to health care is often limited.

Salary Figures

In addition to enjoying strong employment prospects, nurses earn generous salaries.

The BLS reported that RNs earned a median annual salary of 93,600 as of May 2021, far greater than the median for all occupations, which was $49,500 as of May 2024.
The BLS reported that nurse anesthetists, nurse midwives, and NPs earned a median annual salary of $132,050 as of May 2024, and the highest 10% of earners made more than $217,000.

These figures are meant to serve as a baseline. Salaries can vary based on factors such as geographic location, employer, years of experience, education, and specialization.

Flexible Schedules

While nurses typically work full time, with schedules consisting of five eight-hour shifts or three 12-hour shifts per week, many health care organizations have begun to offer other types of shifts that provide more flexibility, such as the following:

Part-time or on-call opportunities to help fill in nursing gaps
Split shifts that are shorter than a typical 12-hour shift
Team schedules that allow a group of nurses to work the same block of time for a set period of time
Shifts that offer nurses variety by allowing them to work in multiple care areas, such as critical care, emergency care, or pediatric care

Additionally, opportunities for nurses to work remotely are growing due to telehealth.

Opportunities for Career Advancement

Nursing is a good career path if you hope to advance into higher-level clinical or leadership roles.

Advanced Clinical Roles

Becoming an advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) allows nurses to broaden their expertise and offer patients more comprehensive health care services. Pursuing advanced clinical roles requires earning a graduate degree, such as a Master of Science in Nursing or a Doctor of Nursing Practice.

Working in advanced clinical roles also allows nurses to specialize. For example, NPs can specialize in:

Adult-gerontology acute care
Adult-gerontology primary care
Family care
Pediatrics
Psychiatric and mental health
Women’s health

Medical Research

Clinical research nurses provide care to clinical trial participants. They administer treatments, collect patient data, and advocate for their patients to ensure that they receive the highest standard of care. Clinical research nurses also have opportunities to help design clinical trials and screen patients for those trials.

Nursing Education

Some nurse educators provide training to nurses who work for health care organizations. They may train nursing staff on an organization’s strategies for patient care, changes in nursing standards, or how to use medical equipment. Nurses can also become members of a nursing school’s faculty, providing formal education to the next generation of nurses and conducting research in nursing practice.

Executive Positions

Nurses can apply their experience and knowledge in executive roles, such as a chief nursing officer (CNO), a position responsible for all aspects of a health care organization’s nursing practice. CNOs apply their clinical expertise to improve an organization’s nursing care models and oversee quality of care and patient safety. They’re also responsible for making financial forecasts and developing high-level organizational strategies.

Information Technology

Nurse informaticists assess and select automated systems that support other nurses. They also train nurses to use these systems and develop policies and procedures to regulate the use of those systems. In addition, nurse informaticists perform data analysis to identify ways to improve patient care and increase health care efficiency.

Business Ownership

Nurses with an entrepreneurial spirit can start their own businesses.

Where permissible by state law, NPs can open private practices.
Nurses can open nurse consulting firms to offer their expertise in legal cases.
Nurses can open independent patient advocate or health care navigator businesses to offer support and information to patients and caregivers making health care decisions.
Nurses can start health coaching firms to help clients meet their health goals.

Finding a New Purpose with a Career Change to Nursing

Making a career change to nursing is a great option if you’re seeking a career with stable employment and good compensation. Beyond the practical advantages of the profession, nurses can provide essential services that can make a significant difference in their patients’ lives, which can make it a fulfilling career.

If you have a bachelor’s degree in a non-nursing field and want to switch to nursing, explore The University of Tulsa’s online Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) program to learn how it can help you achieve your professional goals. The program offers the opportunity to earn a nursing degree on a streamlined schedule and can lay a foundation for one of many careers in nursing.

Start your journey to a new career today.

Recommended Readings

NCLEX Tips for ABSN Graduates

Everything You Need to Know About the Oklahoma Board of Nursing

Why Dr. Tamara Hryshchuk Chose Nursing, and How She Inspires Her Students

Sources:

American Association of Colleges of Nursing, Fact Sheet: AACN in Brief

American Association of Colleges of Nursing, Schools of Nursing Enrollment Increases Across Most Program Levels, Signaling Strong Interest in Nursing Careers

American Association of Nurse Practitioners, Literature on Quality of Nurse Practitioner Practice

American Journal of Managed Care, “COVID-19 Leaves Lasting Impacts on Nursing Practices and Job Satisfaction”

American Nurse Journal, “2024 Nursing Trends and Salary Survey”

American Nurses Association, Chief Nursing Officer/Chief Nurse Executive