Nursing is an inspiring, wonderful career, but it is also incredibly hard. Nurses work for their reputation and the trust that the public has for them each and every day. It is they who take care of you after an injury. They who are there when you are in the hospital waiting for a doctor or recovering after a surgery. Nurses are the backbone of healthcare, and therefore they are the backbone of their country, too. 

They have been there, steadfast, through the pandemic, and they will continue to be there to help people through the worst parts of their lives. There is no position that is more inspiring, and if you find yourself interested in the role, then it’s time to start applying to online nursing programs. There are so many different pathways towards success in this career, and so many incredible job options for success: 

Before the Good Stuff: Getting into Nursing 

If you are inspired by the hard work being done by nurses, and interested in a career change, there are a few ways to go about it. If you already have an undergraduate degree – especially if it is science-based – then there are fast-track BSN online nursing programs available, and you can start working as an RN in just a few years. 

If you need to be gainfully employed, and don’t have a current employer that you are happy to stick with until you graduate, there are many ways to get involved in nursing. The fastest way is to follow these steps: 

1. Complete a Nursing Assistant Certificate 

These certificates take just 3 to 8 weeks to complete, and will make you eligible to become a Certified Nursing Assistant. They work to clean patients, they keep track of vitals and write them down, they change bedsheets, and perform other assistant tasks as nurses need them. In some states, CNAs can even hand out a patient’s prescription to them, though this is really just providing patients with their pre-dispensed medication. 

2. Work Your Way Up to a Licensed Nursing Practitioner 

If your goal is to work and study, then you will ideally want to work to become an LPN before working towards your ADN or BSN. The pay is higher, the responsibilities more interesting and less gruelling, and it takes a short period of time to obtain. This way you can better support yourself financially when you finally start one of the more demanding degrees. 

Registered Nurse Routes: How to Get There at Your Pace 

Registered Nurses are the last level where you work on a more general scale. After that you really begin to specialize, so this is the last chance you have to explore your options and interests as a nurse. That doesn’t mean that you will be locked into that option for good, but that backtracking takes time and energy. It’s a lot better for your career and your efforts if you give yourself time to explore different areas of medicine, and even different departments of medicine. 

The online nursing programs you will need to become an RN are either a BSN, or an Associate’s Degree in Nursing. To keep things simpler and more direct, always choose the RN option. You’ll fast-track your future efforts and get paid more as a bonus! 

How to Customize Your Career to Suit You 

There are many incredible online nursing programs for your MSN or even DNP. Choosing the right specialization can be daunting, yes, but so long as you have taken the time to really try out different interests and even working environments, you’ll have developed a good idea of what area would be suitable.

Specializations 

There are four main roles in the APRN model of regulation. Knowing which type you want to get involved in is probably the first big question that you want to ask yourself, as what you learn will depend most on whether you want to become a Nurse Practitioner, a Clinical Nurse Specialist, a Nurse Midwife, or a Nurse Anesthetist. There are great online nursing programs for each option, so really go through their syllabi and course overviews to understand what you will be learning in each. You may also want to look up each role to understand more about it. 

1. Certified Nurse Practitioner (CNP)

Nurse Practitioner, for example, is ideal role for those who want to provide the most hands-on care. The online nursing programs you will need to take are categorized demographically, so you will need to know who you want to work with before you apply. They specialize not so much in an area of medicine as they do in a demographic. You may work in Family Health, meaning you apply your skills to individuals throughout their lifespan. You may work in Adult-Gerontology, in Women’s or Men’s Health, in Neonatal, in Paediatrics, or in Mental Health. 

NPs have the most responsibility, and are licensed to diagnose, treat, and even prescribe medication. Their work and expertize is seen as a key solution to the shortage of 90,000 physicians (and growing) in the family healthcare setting. What they can and cannot do depends on the state you operate in, with some states even allowing APRN-NPs to run and operate their own clinics. 

Note: Though you may take your MSN online nursing programs in a specific demographic, there are plenty of opportunities to specialise further later on. Never assume that you are done learning, especially in a demanding career like Nurse Practitioners. 

2. Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS)

Clinical Nurse Specialist is another very popular choice for those looking at online nursing programs, as the role allows you to really dig deep into your interests. Rather than providing ongoing care, like many Nurse Practitioners do, Clinical Nurse Specialists work more in research or in primary care, and will work within specific parameters. 

You may specialize in a certain disease, like cancer and cancer treatments, or diabetes. Like NPs, you may specialize in a population type, or in a certain setting. While NPs work more generally, Clinical Nurse Specialists provide very specific care to patients, depending on what they are licensed in. They work in emergency rooms, in oncology departments, in the children’s ward and beyond. They work almost everywhere, but can be most notably be found in speciality clinics, recovery centres, care homes, and hospitals. 

3. Certified Nurse-Midwife (CNM)

Midwifery is becoming more popular in the United States and elsewhere in the world, and for those who want to help people bring new life into the world, this job is perfect. Not only do you get to work with families, and have the option to work either through a clinic or hospital, or on your own, you will also make on average twice as much as the average person. It is a very well paid position that puts life and joy at the top of your care. 

4. Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA)

In terms of salary, however, Nurse Anesthetists take the cake. They earn almost twice as much as midwives, and are comparable in salary to some doctors. They require a lot of training to be licensed to use and administer anesthesia. 

Outside of Direct Care: Job Options for Great Nurses 

Though as a nurse you will likely specialize in one of the four main types of APRNs, that doesn’t mean you lock yourself into direct patient care for the rest of your life. There are so many important roles for nurses that you can really find where you belong and where you feel your work has provided the most benefit. 

1. As an Educator 

Though the shortage of nurse educators is not as large as the overall nursing shortage, there is still too few. In any year, around 80,000 prospective students were turned away because the student spaces were just filled up. There are hundreds of nurse educator vacancies, with an average vacancy rate of 7.2% across the country. Despite this, most new nurses do not intend to become an educator, often times because the faculty positions in question require doctoral online nursing programs. 

Though it takes a long time to qualify as an educator, it is one of the best ways to make a huge impact on the overall health and wellbeing for everyone in the country. 

5. In Admin

Nurses work in admin, and they work to keep patients’ confidential information safe. They also provide essential services for the rest of the staff, and are crucial to the provision of effective, speedy care for patients. 

6. As a Manager or Director 

Working your way up the career ladder as a nurse will even bring you to the option of taking up a managerial level position. To really excel the higher you go, you will want to also earn a doctorate. In this case, the doctorate you earn will be closer to an MBA than any kind of medical degree, but never underestimate how important this skillset can be when it comes to running a clinic or the nursing department in your hospital. 

Workplace Options 

Nursing doesn’t just take place in hospitals and clinics. You can work almost anywhere as a nurse, and be paid very well for your skills. It is one of the most diverse and exciting careers available, simply because there are a lot of events, industries, and companies that want to have on-site health workers. 

Traditional Workplaces 

Traditional workplace examples for nurses include: 

1. Hospital 

The biggest employer of nurses is hands down the hospitals throughout the country. Hospitals back and organize home visits and satellite clinics as well, so even when working for a hospital you have options to pick from for your workplace. 

2. Clinic 

There are three types of clinics. There are emergency clinics, there are family health clinics, and there are speciality clinics. Speciality clinics can range from oncology clinics all the way to physical therapy clinics to drug rehabilitation centres. Nurses are on staff in all of these situations to provide ongoing care or specialist knowledge for patients. In some states, NPs are even allowed to open and run their own clinic.

3. School Nurse 

Many schools have a nurse’s offices on site to care for minor injuries among the students. They will also, however, be responsible for emergency first aid, should it be required. You may also be the go-to sexual health advisor for the school, and be someone to confide in when students feel like there is no one else.  

4. School Educator 

Nurse educators enjoy many of the same benefits as any other professor. They are usually well paid, have a great year structure, and due to the high demand for educators, have great job security. 

Alternative Workplaces 

Those workplaces, though traditional, are not the only place a nurse can work. There are so many fun and cool places, including: 

1. Travel Nurse 

Travel nurses either work as part of an aide mission, or they work from state to state filling in temporary positions to cover shift work if someone gets sick or hurt. In both situations you can really get out there and explore. The only difference is that you need to be careful if planning to fill in temporary positions. There is no problem whatsoever doing this within your state, but check state laws before trying to move. Thanks to the eNLC, many nurses can easily transfer their license to a new state, but not all states are part of it and may have their own rules. 

5. Movie Set Nurse 

One of the most exciting options for those looking into alternative workplace options is a movie set. You will need to be a nurse practitioner or a clinical nurse specialist that has emergency room experience. You are there to care for the members on set, especially when stunts are involved. If something happens, you are the first point of contact and care, and can make a world of a difference depending on the accident. 

6. Other Examples 

You can work for sports teams, for event organizers, and so much more. Wherever there is a risk of injury, there is a job for a nurse. You just need to start looking for the right job listing!