Wondering what nursing positions and opportunities are waiting for you? Depending on your education, training, and preferences, you can choose from several different fields. Read on to discover the different types of nurses and their corresponding responsibilities.
Critical Care Nurse
If you’re a critical care nurse, you’ll be working in intensive care units. You’re expected to offer complex care to patients with severe injuries or serious illnesses. This includes infusing blood, cleaning wounds, and administering certain medications. Most ICU or critical care nurses have a bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) degree.
Labor and Delivery Nurse
Labor and delivery nurses usually work in hospitals, particularly in the OB/GYN department. You may also work in private care facilities. As a labor and delivery nurse, you’ll help mothers through labor and delivery. You’ll also provide care for the newborn baby and assist in the postnatal treatment of both the child and the mother. You’ll need at least an associate degree in nursing (ADN) or BSN, but other employers prefer BSN or higher.
Neonatal Nurse
If you’re a neonatal nurse, you work in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). You’ll provide care for premature babies or those with critical health problems, including birth defects. Responsibilities include conducting tests and evaluating results, educating parents about different procedures, and operating equipment in the NICU. NICU nurses have a BSN degree and need certification in neonatal intensive care nursing or neonatal resuscitation.
Pediatric Nurse
Common types of nurses include pediatric nurses who work in hospitals, schools, and outpatient care centers. You can also choose a private practice with a pediatrician. As a pediatric nurse, you’ll work with children and teens. You’ll usually give vaccinations, treat minor injuries, and monitor developmental milestones. You’ll need at least an associate degree for this nursing position.
School Nurse
If you’re looking for a less stressful nursing position, you might want to work as a school nurse. You’ll follow regular hours and enjoy holidays and summer vacations. Your responsibilities include helping students with cuts and minor injuries, performing hearing and vision tests, monitoring vaccinations, educating students regarding pregnancy prevention, and more.
Military Nurse
If you choose to be a military nurse, you’ll be performing roles similar to a registered nurse in a civilian setting. These include recording your patients’ medical histories, evaluating their conditions, and giving medication. However, you’re focusing on wounded or ill soldiers. Obtaining a military nursing position requires a BSN degree.
Travel Nurse
Do you love traveling the world and helping patients in need? If so, a travel registered nurse is ideal for you. Travel nurses enjoy the flexibility to explore the country and the world while giving patients medication, performing tests, relaying data to healthcare providers, and more. You’ll need an ADN or BSN degree to be a travel nurse. A higher degree or another certification can increase your chances of becoming a travel nurse.
Forensic Nurse
Are you passionate about helping victims of sexual assault, human trafficking, and other violence get justice? If so, you might want to be a forensic nurse. Apart from addressing the physical and emotional needs of patients, you’ll also help gather evidence, work with coroners and pathologists, and offer medical testimony in court. Forensic nurses have a BSN degree or higher. You might also want to finish a forensic nursing certificate program to find more opportunities.
Oncology Nurse
Being an oncology nurse means working with cancer patients and those who are at risk of getting cancer. You will administer medications, help make and implement care plans, look for ways to manage cancer symptoms, and assess patients’ progress. You’re also expected to show empathy to patients battling cancer. An ADN or BSN degree is often needed to be an oncology nurse.
Trauma Nurse
As its name suggests, a trauma nurse helps treat victims of trauma, including gunshots, domestic assault, and car accidents. You’ll usually work in emergency rooms, critical care units, or trauma centers. Some of your responsibilities include evaluating a patient’s condition, preparing them for surgery, and giving IV fluids or blood. Since you’re tending to patients with serious injuries or illnesses, you should be calm and proactive as well as skilled in advanced life support.
Women’s Health Nurse
A women’s health nurse practitioner offers comprehensive care to women of all ages, including lesbians and transgender women. You will screen women for breast cancer, sexually transmitted infections, domestic abuse, and more. You may also perform fertility assessment, menopausal care, and after-pregnancy care. You will educate women about health and wellness. You need at least a BSN degree to be a women’s health nurse practitioner.
Geriatric Nurse
A geriatric nurse is a registered nurse who works with older patients. Your duties include evaluating patients’ mental status and cognitive skills, creating treatment plans, administering medications, checking signs of elder abuse, and helping patients and caretakers how to deal with age-related problems. These include arthritis, Alzheimer’s disease, falls, chronic pain, isolation, nutritional deficiency, and lack of mobility.
Geriatric nurses often work in nursing homes, hospitals, and patient homes. You should have a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree, and you might want to obtain a certification as a geriatric nurse.
Public Health Nurse
If you work as a public health nurse, you promote the well-being of not only individuals but also communities. Some of your responsibilities include conducting tests to prevent certain conditions, promoting vaccinations, managing rates of diabetes and other chronic conditions, and implementing programs to offer adequate healthcare to the public.
You will usually work for the government, public health agencies, and research institutes. Moreover, you’ll need a BSN degree and coursework on public health.
Final Thoughts
From school nurses, travel nurses, and pediatric nurses to oncology nurses, military nurses, and trauma nurses, there are multiple types of nurses in different settings. Hence, whether you love caring for children or the elderly, traveling, or working with women of all ages, there’s a right nursing career for you. Nursing may be a challenging field, but you’re surely working with a purpose, so enjoy and learn from the journey!