Nursing has developed into the largest health care profession in the United States, with over two million registered nurses spread across different nursing careers.
A wrong notion you may have is that nurses are stationed at hospitals only. Well, this is inaccurate.
There are communities, public health agencies, and ambulatory care centers where services of a nurse are pivotal and mostly under a payroll.
The Nursing Practice
The nursing profession cuts across different fields including:
- Childcare
- Elderly care
- Prenatal services
- Postnatal services
- Injury nursing (specialty area)
- Cancer nursing (specialty area)
- Forensic nursing (specialty area)
Choose Your Nursing Program
To pursue any of the nursing careers requires one to complete a nursing program to become certified.
You can then proceed to take a state license examination.
There are over 1500 nursing programs offered in the United States alone.
After graduation, three of the programs listed below helps you in preparing for different nursing careers.
Bachelor of Science in Nursing
This program is offered in colleges and universities and takes a minimum of four years to complete.
Graduates have the opportunity through this course to study health care settings that include leadership and management roles.
This is a more prestigious degree and is a necessity in various areas of nursing.
Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN)
his program is offered in community colleges and junior colleges, and it takes two to three years to complete.
The program enlightens students on managing direct patient care.
Hospital Diploma
This program is based in hospital settings and takes between two to three years to complete.
Nursing Careers
You have a fundamental knowledge of the nursing program, what next? Choosing from different nursing careers in the healthcare sector.
Your experience and level of education will determine the position held.
Entry-level nursing position
The staff nurse position as it’s commonly referred to as.
The basis of the nurse’s judgment is based solely on scientific knowledge.
As a staff nurse, you need to depend on strategies and current care plans.
Certified Midwife
This is a skilled nursing role where the nurse childbearing women.
This begins from the level of preconception all through the prenatal process, labor, and final delivery.
Certified midwives also offer postpartum period care services.
Also, among her duties are family planning and women’s gynecological care.
Case Manager
Among the nursing careers in the healthcare sector include the role of a case manager. A nurse can become a nurse case manager over time.
The position of a nurse case manager entails the management of resources and monitoring the services of a group of nurses, which could be a hospital establishment.
Nurse Educator
Nurses could also take up this role.
The position is concerned with enlightening people about their general hygiene and methods of achieving this.
A practitioner (nurse) has a different role to play; they carry out physical tests on patients, diagnoses and proffer treatments.
To give patients prescriptions and oversee patients diagnosed with chronic illnesses, which may include diabetes and hypertension are among the duties of a nurse practitioner.
Nurse Anesthetist
These nurses help out during operations and are usually Certified, Registered Nurse Anesthetist.
They administer anesthesia before and after operations have been carried out.
Specialty Nursing
Additionally, several specialty nursing schemes also help specialize in a particular field.
Forensic nursing, radiology nursing, rehabilitation nursing, AIDS Care Nursing are among the few specialty fields.
Forensic nurses work in a different environment, along with other nurses.
This could either be law enforcement agencies to assist in investigations relating to criminal and sexual assaults as well as accidental deaths.
Victims of such crimes are also treated by forensic nurses.
Also, among the different nursing careers are the radiology nurses. These nurses deal with patients who undergo diagnosis in radiology imaging environs.
Not to forget ultrasonography, magnetic resonance, and radiation oncology.
AIDS Care Nurses handle the psychological, spiritual, physical, and social needs of any patients with AIDS.
Emotional and physical supports are provided to patients and families by Rehabilitation Nurses and Psychiatric Nurses.
These are some of the nursing careers aspiring nurses can pursue.