For people outside the profession, it is easy to lump all nurses into one collective group. In fact, nurses perform many different jobs and have a wide range of specialities that make them suited to different environments. Advanced nursing training is intended to provide deeper knowledge of a unique field within the healthcare system. Nurses leave the training program more well prepared for the reality of their working environment.
Nursing is a challenging yet rewarding career field with lots of interesting job possibilities. Here are ten different types of nursing jobs and careers available:
1. School Nurses
A great option for anyone who loves working with kids and would like to maintain more standard working hours, school nurse positions can be both flexible and highly rewarding. In this position, the nurse provides support and council to students throughout the school year.
This includes first air and basic therapeutic if a student happens to become ill while in class. Although these types of nursing jobs aren’t paid quite as well as some other nursing jobs, it can be a great option for anyone who wants to have time to spend with their school-age children.
2. Public Health Nurses
Usually employed through a local municipality or a government-funded organization, a public health nurse is there to provide care and advice to a specific community through education and advocacy. In addition to running different programs related to vaccination or risk monitoring, a public health nurse is also there to ensure that members of the community have access to the kind of care they need.
3. Corrections Facility Nurses
These types of nursing jobs are rather challenging. They involve working in prisons or in correctional facilities are there to provide care for the inmates currently incarcerated. This job will involve everything from distributing medication to administering first aid and providing treatment for chronic conditions and acute illness.
It is important that anyone working in a correctional facility has the ability to approach their job in a very objective way and feels confident in their ability to separate their work and personal lives.
4. Rehabilitation Nurses
Following an accident, injury, or illness, many people will require rehabilitation services. These types of nursing jobs will assist the patients suffering from chronic disabilities or illness to adapt their lifestyle and physical activities.
The priority here is helping patients reach as high a level of independence as possible and create a new normal in their lives. Nursing working in rehabilitation centers will likely do everything from providing emotional support to the family to helping people with severe injuries learn how to walk again.
5. Intensive Care Nurses
These types of nursing jobs are for those you don’t mind working some evenings and weekends and want to play a hands-on role in saving lives. Working with the seriously ill or injured, intensive care nurses will typically find themselves providing direct care in a hospital setting.
6. Mental Health and Psychiatric Nurses
Nurses trained in this field will be able to find themselves job offers in different clinics, hospitals and mental health institutions throughout the country. With current studies now projectiong that upwards of 20% of people will experience some kind of mental illness in their life, this is a very dynamic area of nursing. Nursing with this kind of training also often work patients struggling with drinking, gambling, or drug addiction.
7. Nurse Midwifes
An ideal job for anyone passionate about motherhood, babies, and more natural approaches to childbirth, a nurse midwife is there to assist women seeking an at home birth. Helping to ensure a safe and healthy delivery, this kind of nurse is on hand to assist the mother and newborn before, during, and after the birthing process.
8. Occupational Health Nurses
You may have encountered this type of nurse when applying for a job or attending a seminar about health at the workplace. Occupational health nurses take care of any requirements regarding pre-placement medical exams and help facilitate workplace workshops and programs related to well-being. They are also on hand to provide first aid and basic medical treatment if an injury occurs while at work.
9. Oncology Nurses
Oncology nurses specialize in cancer treatment and are there to support their patients throughout the entire of the diagnosis and treatment process. They are trained to provide all the best resources to assist cancer patients in looking after their health while managing their condition. Working in this position, a nurse will encounter people of all ages and backgrounds who are brought together under the collective umbrella of fighting the same disease.
10. Palliative Care Nurses
Palliative care nurses offer treatment and comfort to those managing health issues during the last stages of their life. A challenging yet deeply meaningful position, this type of nurse is there to ensure that patients experience as little suffering as possible and that they are able to maintain the best quality of life available until the very end.