Rewarding Career Specializations for Registered Nurses

Unlike many careers, becoming a registered nurse is not necessarily the end of the career line. A single degree is never all the learning that is available to a nurse in today's health landscape, where it is increasingly being recognized that full medical training is not needed in every health situation, and in many cases, a nurse can provide effective care to patients on their own. Additionally, nursing knowledge can also lead to far-flung and fascinating specialities, like legal nurse consulting. Today we take a look at all the amazing career options available to registered nurses!

1. Critical care nurse

A licensed professional nurse who deals with critically ill patients, and also with their families, is known as a critical care nurse. These patients often have very complex problems, and are on the border between life and death. Specialisations within the field of critical care nursing include neonatal, pediatric and adult critical care.

2. Emergency nurses

Emergency nurses work in the Accident and Emergency Departments of a hospital, and must be able to work effectively in situations where instantaneous decisions are required, and a high level of calm, compassion and caring is required. While patient care is by far the largest specialisation within this career for registered nurses, some emergency nurses also work as educators with the general public, helping to prevent accidents, and some work in leadership and research, helping to create programs for provision of emergency care.

3. Palliative care nursing

Nurses who care for terminally ill patients are known as palliative care nurses, and they usually work within a patient's home rather than in a hospital. The largest day-to-day roles of a palliative care nurse are management of pain and symptoms, support for the family, and availability 24 hours a day. Some may specialise in oncology, pediatrics, or geriatrics.

4. Labor and delivery nursing

After becoming a registered nurse, many women choose to specialise in labor and delivery, which used to be known as midwifery. These nurses care for women with complicated pregnancies, or who are labouring or have recently delivered. The care of the babies is often more of a separate specialisation, but with normal uncomplicated deliveries, the work is very interlinked.