Although the job market in almost every industry is nowhere close to being as stable as it should be, there are a couple of professional fields that have a pretty solid footing. One of them would be nursing. Aside from the fact that it’s a wonderful way to provide support to those in need as it relates to their various health-related issues, there are a myriad of other reasons why seriously considering a career in nursing can be personally beneficial. We have five of them for you below:

Nurses are needed. As long as there is a health care industry, there will be a need for nurses to be a part of it. As a matter of fact, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration, nurses continue to be in high demand and it is even projected that by 2020, there will be a shortfall of about 800,000 nurses. That means plenty of opportunity for those who are studying now to enter into the nursing field. Plus, the pay is pretty impressive. A registered nurse, on average, makes around $52,000 annually.

Nurses have flexible schedules. Although many nurses work hard during their shift, they oftentimes are able to schedule their time on the job in increments of 4, 8, 10 or 12 hours. There are also individuals who will work solely during the week or only on the weekends per their request. This provides plenty of room for work flexibility.

Nurses are able to move about. If you’re someone who enjoys traveling or you don’t want to feel like you have to stay one place for a long period of time just in order to keep a job, then this is another reason why nursing may be the ideal field for you. Nurses are needed in hospitals, doctor’s offices, retirement homes, schools and many other kinds of places all over the world all of the time. This means that you have the ability to move to another city or country without worrying if you’ll be able to land a job or not.

Nurses have a lot of room for growth. Another great thing about the nursing profession is that you don’t have to ever feel like you’re in a rut. That’s because there is plenty of room for advancement and growth within the industry. For one thing, there are different kinds of specialties (such as pediatrics, trauma or labor and delivery) that you can go into. Another is that you can always go back to school to get more degrees. For instance, if you are currently a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), while working within your CNA nursing career, you can go back to school to become a Registered Nurse (RN). Or, if you already an RN, you can go back to school to become something like a Nurse Practitioner (NP) or Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNP).

Nurses help people in very special and significant ways. One of the best parts of being a nurse is knowing that you’re using your knowledge and expertise to help others. Nurses have the ability to provide information, comfort and calm, not just to the patients that they’re assigned to, but their family members too. In short, when you have a good nurse, you tend to have a better health care experience. And that’s something everyone wants.