How does a minor work?

If I major in Nursing and minor in Psychology. How does the minor benefit me? Does it even show up on your degree or no? I have a friend who is majoring in Psychology with a minor in Education. How does that work? Could someone explain this to me?...

There are a number of ways to approach this.
1) Supplement your major: some folks pick a minor to directly support their major. In your case, Nursing and Psych are both human health fields that can overlap a good deal. The same for your friend's major in Psych with a minor in Education (as the psych gives insights to the learning styles for different ages of students).

2) A minor as a "Plan B". The reality of life is that most people with college degrees are NOT working the field of their major (for a wide variety of reasons). For some, the minor could be a lifeboat to a job in a different field.

3) A minor in a "technical skill" that supports the major, but that is also more readily applicable to many more fields. For example, data processing is a technique used by a diverse number of majors. So if your major doesn't lead to a job, a minor in a widely used technique could get you a job.

4) A minor as enrichment...for some, the minor is a chance to learn or be exposed to other things....art, music, literature, math, etc. which is not so directly related to their major, but is of personal interest to them to enhance their development as a human being.

And then of course, there are some folks who choose not to minor in anything and just get the units they need to complete their degree and be done with college.

Hope this helps. Best wishes.

It's just one of those things that comes under the heaading of "we've always done it that way." The idea is to expose you to more than one discipline. The word "university" is supposed to imply that you have been educated in a "universal" manner, that you have been exposed to a wide range of knowledge. A college, on the other hand, was originally supposed to just prepare you for a career. If you're going to be a nurse, the background in psychology certainly won't hurt.