Taking a Closer Look at the Different Nursing Specialisms

The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that there are over 2.5 million nurses practicing in the United States. This number is expected to grow as nursing jobs become increasingly specialized. There is also the fact that there is a huge population of aging and retiring nurses. Nursing jobs are very rewarding, but all the different specializations might make it harder for nurses to choose a career path that best suits them. These specializations are often distinguished by the educational qualification of a nurse and below we will look at some of the most common nurse specializations.

Becoming a Nurse

To become a nurse, you must have gone through medical school and attained one of the few nursing degrees available. They may be called different names, but all these degrees lead to fulfilling nursing careers. Next, a nurse has to pass certification exams so they can become certified to work in any of the different types of healthcare facilities available. If a nurse wants to specialize, they might have to go back to school to attain more specializations for the particular field they are interested in.

Nurse Researcher

As the name suggests, a nurse researcher involved in research into:

• Health

• Illness

• Healthcare

Part of their job includes:

• Identifying research questions

• Designing studies

• Conducting these studies

• Collecting, interpreting and analyzing data

• Reporting their findings

These types of nurses can also decide to go into academics where they could write papers and reports on their research in journals and publications.

Psychiatric Nurse

These...