Nursing is a fantastic career path. It can be flexible for those with families, and offers many options to progress. Nursing students, however, are in no way committed to working in nursing practice, there are many different career options that can be sought. These are just some of the best.

Practice Nurse

Working in a healthcare practice is a great option for those who want to work with patients, and want their days to be varied and exciting. Working in a practice, you’ll come across many different injuries and illnesses and meet many different people. No two days will be the same. It’s also a great option for those looking for flexibility as it can offer great hours. Look in to an online nursing program to get you started.

Research Nurse

You may need further education to be a research nurse, such as a PhD or MSN. You won’t work directly with patients, but will be on the front line of medical research. This can be a really exciting career path.

Pediatric Nurse

Specializing in pediatrics can be difficult. Helping children through illnesses can be upsetting, but many find it a wonderful career path.

Old People’s Home Nurse

If you want to move away from hospitals but still work with patients, working with the elderly in an old people’s home could be a great choice. With the population aging rapidly, there will never be a shortage of jobs in this sector.

Legal Nurse Consultant

Another option if you don’t want to work directly with patients is working in law. As a legal nurse consultant, you would consult with law firms on medical cases. Legal nurse consultants work directly with law firms, the government or are based at home.

Nurse Midwife

A nurse midwife delivers and cares for new babies, as well as looking after women throughout their pregnancies. As a qualified nurse midwife, you could perform examinations and tests, but also help women with family planning and preparing for their new babies. This is a career many mothers are drawn to.

Nurse Anesthetist

This is one of the higher paid nursing jobs. You would work in surgery, administering and regulating anesthesia, working with surgeons and anesthetists. Some nurse anesthetists work outside of hospitals in dental practices aiding in dental procedures that require the patient to be anesthetized.

Nurse Manager

Management is often a career path nurses choose after working in a practice, but there’s no reason if you are appropriately qualified, you couldn’t do it straight away. You’d be responsible for monitoring and managing patients care. As well as organizing other nurses and suggesting treatments.

Educator

Working in education is something a lot of nurses do part time, while continuing along another nursing career path. With advancements being made in medicine all the time, working as an educator would allow you to learn yourself and keep your knowledge up to date.

There are many options available to you if you are considering a career in nursing. Your choice will largely depend on whether or not you want to work directly with patients. Either way the first thing to do is look into an online nursing degree from Arizona State University.

My Say

Obviously, Nursing education does not lead to a single path. It provides many career options to choose from to ensure that one does not only earn through a nursing job but also get to actually enjoy doing it.