Why are nurses so important to women’s health?
There are countless doctors and nurses who deserve our praise and support for all the work they do on a day-to-day basis in order to keep people healthy. Nurses and doctors work in countless fields as well as with countless people, and they support various aspects of health.
One of these instrumental areas that nurses work in is women’s health. Women have their own unique healthcare needs, just like men and children, and having a specialized team of nurses that understands that and will work with women to help them have the best health possible is extremely important.
Here’s why nurses are a vital part of the team for women’s health and why their knowledge and expertise are so important to so many people.
They provide education for women of all ages
You can’t fix anything if you don’t know how it was supposed to work in the first place, and that is true for our bodies as well. Women’s bodies can encounter different issues when they reach different ages, and it can cause them to need a change in their healthcare as they age.
For example, women that are of reproductive age often go to see obstetrics and gynecology nurses because they are able to see all the different wellness issues that could impact the chances of a woman having a baby. These nurses will work to perform breast exams, perform pap smears, and diagnose any reproductive issues or problems with birth control.
Some women have found themselves misinformed about their medical health and the health of their bodies, and they then go and make poor decisions because of their lack of information. But nurses can cut through the myths and misinformation many women deal with and teach them whether their symptoms are normal or not.
The more health-related information a person has, the more likely that person is to reach out when something is wrong and get the help they need.
They help a woman get through her pregnancy
Additionally, when a woman is going through the various stages of her pregnancy, nurses will counsel their patient through pregnancy and prenatal care.
They are also one of the first faces a pregnant woman will see whenever she is prepared and ready to give birth. They will help a woman get through her childbirth and will monitor both the mother and baby. They will also be by their patient’s side after childbirth in order to provide post-pregnancy care.
Nurses provide preventive care
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and this is doubly true for health. For many women, there are a lot of health problems that need to be caught early and prevented for them to have the best chance of survival and getting over the illness in question.
Early signs of breast cancer, cervical cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and even signs of abuse and violence need to be detected early. The longer these issues go on undetected, the more dangerous they will become for many women. But having nurses who promote and practice preventative care will ensure that these illnesses can be caught.
Then they can be taken care of while they are a very low risk to the woman, and many of these screenings are done during preventative visits. Nurses don’t just provide these visits, but they also ensure that the women of the community know about them and how important they are for women’s health.
How do I become a nurse specializing in women’s health?
If you want to become a practitioner of woman’s health and want to ensure that you can become a nurse and take care of other women, you have some hard work to do. You will need several degrees to become a nurse in general. You will need a bachelor’s degree that is focused on nursing or that comes from a nursing school program.
Additionally, you will need to take and practice the licensing exam to become a fully-registered nurse. You can stop there and choose to work and hone your skills as a registered nurse, and you will have many fields and opportunities to do so. However, you will need to apply for a nurse practitioner program to specialize in women’s health.
Depending on your state, you will need to complete certain requirements and examinations before you can become certified under an organization like the National Certification Corporation (NCC) or the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.
You can also obtain a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) certificate in order to become a family practitioner. Rockhurst University’s accredited program expands a nurse’s knowledge and scope of practice into an FNP, offering hands-on clinical placement and advanced scientific and theoretical nursing concepts. Becoming an FNP will allow you to have greater flexibility as well as the ability to work with everyone in a family, and the more people you can help, the more good you can bring to the world.
Pick a field of care
Thankfully, even if you decide to work in women’s health only, there are plenty of wonderful opportunities for nurses all over the field of healthcare. Whether you decide to be a primary care nurse, focus on prenatal and postpartum care with pregnant women, or just focus on general wellness and preventive care and screening, you will be helping women.
So don’t be afraid to go on the journey to become a nurse in the field of women’s healthcare. It is a very important field and one that will always have roles that will have to be filled. At the end of the day, you will be helping a lot of people keep their health up.