There are many good reasons to become a nurse. If you have any interest in helping people, this could be the career for you.
Nurses work with people of all different backgrounds, races, and socioeconomic backgrounds. They also get to provide direct care to patients by assisting with activities of daily living such as bathing or feeding the patient if they are too weak to do it themselves.
Nursing is a diverse field that has many opportunities that do not require years of schooling like becoming an MD would require.
What Types of Care Can a Nurse Provide?
Nurses can provide direct care by aiding patients with activities like bathing or feeding if they cannot do it themselves due to their condition.
They might also have to help a patient with things like assisting them with their activity of daily living, such as taking out their trash or brushing their teeth. When nurses are trained, they will have to learn how to care for the mentally ill and may even have to give injections if needed.
While nurses can get the same job when they become an RN because an RN can do all of these things, it is up to each nurse what type of specialty they want to specialize in.
Although there are many different types of nursing specialties out there, most people will work in one field or another based on what type doesn’t appeal to them and how much experience they have.
Starting Out in a New Area or Specialty
If you are a nurse already or you are considering becoming a nurse, it can be useful to know the areas of specialization in which you would want to work. Here is a look at some of the nursing specialties:
Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA): This is a nurse’s first step into nursing by working with patients inside their homes.
This is a very entry-level job that does not require many years of experience and training to be performed, so it will not be too hard for a nurse who wants to break into nursing and move up in rank quickly.
Registered Nurse (RN): This is an RN’s first professional nursing position as they work within hospitals and other medical care facilities helping patients with their physical or mental needs.
RNs have many training options that can be taken, for example, online courses or classes offered in colleges or universities.
Associate Nurse: This is a nurse that has completed a nurse-midwifery program and can perform some of the same duties as an RN.
They are trained to perform midwifery care within the maternity ward and birthing center for women.
Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN): LPNs work mostly with their hands as they provide therapy care to patients, such as bathing, feeding, and dressing. LPNs also work in areas such as nursing homes and schools, helping patients around these locations.
Your Choice of Nursing Specialties
Along with different pathways into nursing, there are also a huge number of nurse specialties too.
Below is a list of some of the different nursing specialties that you might want to consider going into. Many of these are higher-level careers and will need further study, but the benefit is that you get to work in an area you really enjoy, and you’re likely to enjoy a higher salary as a bonus.
Certified Nurse-Midwife
As a certified nurse-midwife, you will spend your days mainly caring for women and providing prenatal care. You will also be able to assist the doctor during some surgeries, although the majority of the time will be spent with women in labor and delivery.
There are many different levels of certification in this field, although certified nurse-midwife nurses are the highest level in training and can go on to become peri-natal certified midwives or obstetrician nurse practitioners.
As a certified nurse-midwife, you can have the unique opportunity of working in a medical setting while still being able to use your education and training to help women and others in their own homes.
You will be working with women who are pregnant and giving birth, as well as taking care of the babies after they are born.
Certified Nurse Practitioner
If you enjoy nursing and love helping people and working with individuals at home as well as in hospitals, then this career path is for you. You will spend your days helping patients one on one working with them outside of a hospital setting.
Depending on your career goals, you could also be working in hospitals and other medical settings. You will spend your days working with patients to assist them with their everyday needs.
Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist
As a certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA), you will work in a high-stress environment helping patients and doctors alike.
You will be able to work in many different settings including hospitals, surgical centers, and even remote locations, depending on what is needed by the patient or doctor.
You will have to have extensive training as this is not an easy job but one that requires being able to do a lot of heavy lifting and long hours on your feet.
Pediatric Nurse
If you like children, want to help them grow up healthy, and are looking for a different type of nursing career, then becoming a pediatric nurse might suit you. You will work with children of all ages.
You will be able to deliver babies and take care of sick children in private homes or hospitals, depending on the child’s needs. You have to have a lot of experience before you can become licensed as a pediatric nurse.
Family Nurse Practitioner
This is another registered nurse that spends their days working outside of the hospital setting but still caring for patients if needed by them or their families.
If you’ve read all about pediatric nursing, you may be wondering what do family nurse practitioners do that is different?
The main difference between these two is that family nurse practitioners work with families (which may include children), and a pediatric nurse only works with children.
Physician Assistant
If you have a little bit of a medical background and don’t want the full responsibilities of being a physician, then becoming a physician assistant may be right for you.
You will get to help doctors by doing more hands-on procedures such as performing medical tests on patients, assisting in surgeries, and helping out at hospitals as well as private practices depending on your specializations.
Orthopedic Nurse
As an orthopedic nurse, your day-to-day job will consist of helping patients recover and maintain their mobility/health through a variety of treatment methods.
You will also be responsible for communicating with physicians, as well as giving injections. Some of the procedures you might be able to help with include diagnostic and therapeutic exercises, strengthening and stretching muscles, correcting muscle imbalances, and more.
Geriatric Nurse
If you love older people and love helping them in any way possible, then becoming a geriatric nurse might just be the right job for you.
You will be able to work in both a hospital and a private home setting, but most of the time will be spent helping elderly people get their mobility back and live as normal a life as possible.
Psychiatric Nurse
If you have a passion for helping individuals who are mentally ill, then being a psychiatric nurse might just be the right kind of career for you.
You will be able to help patients with their mental conditions by giving them medication, managing their pain, and helping them self-manage their conditions.
Cardiac Nurse
If you have a passion for working with patients who have heart conditions and helping them maintain their overall health and well-being, then becoming a cardiologist nurse is just the job for you.
You will spend your days working in different medical settings such as hospitals and private practices giving injections to patients as well as performing diagnostic tests on them.
Critical Care Nurse
Most critical care nurses focus on working in an intensive care unit in hospitals, but there are also some who work in outpatient settings.
You will spend your days helping patients who are injured or suffering from major illnesses. You will be responsible for helping them recover and stay healthy by performing various procedures ranging from tracheostomies to artificial ventilation.
Oncology Nurse
If you want to take care of patients who have been diagnosed with cancer, this is the type of nurse career that you can do.
You will be responsible for helping the patient with their recovery and assisting them with their medical needs, which may include giving injections, administering medicine, etc.
Working in oncology can be difficult, but it can also be very rewarding. There are a variety of different ways to become a cancer nurse, which are listed in the next section.
Emergency Nurse
This is an area you should consider if you want to help patients in need of emergency care and want to be able to work in different settings such as hospitals or even rescue teams.
Some of the duties an emergency nurse would perform include taking vital signs, giving treatment, and evacuating patients by ambulance.
Neonatal Nurse
If you want to take care of newborns but still want to be able to work in a healthcare setting, then becoming a neonatal nurse could be the right choice for you.
You will spend your days helping babies grow up healthy and well cared for. You can help them by performing procedures such as weighing and measuring their vital signs, giving pain medication, administering vaccines, and so on.
What is the Best Nursing Specialty for You?
Now that you have an understanding of what nursing specialties are and what nursing careers there are, it is important to take a look at which ones would be the best fit for you.
You need to think about what kind of environment you would like to work in and how long you think you will want to work in that particular job.
You can also talk to other nurses or just take a look at their blog or social media page so that they can give advice on what was best for them.
Remember that nurses have many different paths and options for where they want to go in their career, so do not limit yourself because one particular career path might not suit you.
The Future Outlook for Nurses
The future of nursing looks very bright, and it is a career that people will always need.
If you love working with patients and helping them in their time of need, then this is the perfect career for you.
There are a huge number of advancements within both nursing and the wider medical sector as a whole, which will give nurses a huge benefit in treating patients.
There are now many more people becoming trained as nurses, and this, coupled with the number of jobs being created in these industries, means that there is a lot of potential for increasing the number of nurses across the world.
Conclusion
The best nursing specialties will depend on what you want out of your career, but there are many different types of specialties that you can choose from.
There are jobs that are more hands-on, such as intensive care and critical care, but there are also jobs where you can still interact with patients by being a psychiatric nurse or an orthopedic nurse.
There is no shortage of jobs for nurses to get into, and the future is looking very bright for these industries. Many people are deciding to become nurses because they love helping people and making a difference in their lives.
Nursing is a tough career, and the job is very hard work. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go for it, though; if you really want to become a nurse and help people, then getting your nurse qualifications, joining a hospital team, and treating patients is a great goal to have!
