The words profession and occupation have similar connotations and can be used interchangeably in a sentence. At the same time, there is a difference in their meanings. Occupation can be defined as a temporary job, something a person does not do as a career, and something that does not require any special training or education. An occupation often means a job people agree to when they are in between careers or when they experience difficulties finding a suitable vacancy in their professional field. The profession is often treated as a more prestigious word. The profession is defined as the base of one’s career. It requires years of special education and training. This is something experts do. The difference between profession and occupation is that practicing a profession the individual is paid for their special skills and talents. In contrast, an occupation is often low-qualified labor-oriented at the delivery of popular services (Occupation vs. Profession par. 4). In my opinion, nursing is a profession that requires years of specialized training and then years of professional experience to make a successful expert, nursing deals with people’s health; this is why it cannot be considered as a simple low-qualified service production.
Nursing practice starts with the acquirement of a license. Practicing nurses are to follow professional rules and strict standards such as norms of behavior and attitude, ethics, risk management, and dignity (Principles of Nursing Practice par. 6). Breaking these standards, nurses risk losing their license and being stripped of the right to practice. Nurses also have to deal with a lot of responsibilities. Their mistakes can cost someone their life or wellbeing. In case of a mistake, nurses can be sanctioned for not being professional (Cardillo par. 3). This profession requires nurses to apply critical thinking, evaluate the circumstances, and make responsible judgments. The profession of a nurse includes several challenges, and an unprepared person cannot fulfill them. Nurses are involved in a decision-making process; they conduct nursing diagnoses, work with patients, and perform highly qualified tasks.
The education of a nursing professional includes practical and theoretical training. New nurses learn from experienced professionals and theoretical experts. Nursing education has courses for general practice and the courses designed to train nurses for specialized fields such as surgical and post-operatory, or pediatric nursing. Typically, nursing professionals are to take a four-year course to obtain a license. However, they can continue their education afterward in case if they want to acquire a higher qualification or become qualified in a different professional field.
Just like in many other professions research is a never-ending process in the field of nursing. Professionals of this area constantly learn and improve. The technological process influences nursing a lot introducing its experts to new methods, strategies, and means to improve their efficiency. Besides, nursing professionals constantly work at the improvement of patient care methods and approaches. The research in this field is directed at the reduction of post-operatory infections, ways to increase the comfort of the patients. At the same time, they stay at the medical facilities, collecting and processing statistical data for various phenomena and cases. Quality improvement research in ongoing happening and it evolves together with the whole field of medicine.
To sum up, a profession as complex and responsible as nursing cannot be considered “just a job.” Nursing is a serious field with its research, with highly qualified experts who prepare and train new professionals. With a lot of challenges, a low qualified employee would not be able to accomplish.
Works Cited
Cardillo, Donna. Is nursing a profession or a job? 2010. Web.
Occupation vs Profession. Difference Between. 2015. Web.
Principles of Nursing Practice. RCN. 2015. Web.