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Nursing Specialties

Published
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on September 17, 2010
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i_nursing_obstetricsThe medical field is a highly stratified and specialized place. Few doctors are just “doctors”; they’re orthopedic surgeons, neurologists, family practitioners, or psychologists. In the same way, few nurses are just “nurses,” even if their title says otherwise.

Specializing in one area of nursing – whether you do it while still attending nursing school or when you land your first job – is a great way to further your career and gain higher pay, more promotion opportunities, better hours, and even to find a greater level of job satisfaction overall.

Nursing Authorities

Becoming “specialized” in a nursing field isn’t always as easy as spending a few years in that particular field. Professional nursing organizations offer certifications for nurses who meet all the requirements for that specialization, and who continue to get the education credits they need to uphold that specialization. For example, The Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nursing Certification Board (WOCNCB) is just one of hundreds of different nursing organizations offering specialization.

In this particular case, nurses can be certified in wound, ostomy, continence, and foot care; a distinction accomplished by almost 6,000 nurses since the 1970s. While a certification like this isn’t always required for working in that field, it represents a way for nurses to distinguish themselves and gain advancement or higher pay. The options are also varied, and range from the WOCNCB to things like Neonatal Care or Community Health Education. A comprehensive list of the different nursing certifying bodies is available at Wikipedia.

Top-Paying Nursing Specialty Options

As is the case with doctors, surgeons, and physicians, some nursing specialties pay more than others. If making a large salary is your goal, specialization is a great idea, particularly in these ten fields:

  • Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist
  • Nurse Researcher
  • Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner
  • Certified Nurse Midwife
  • Pediatric Endocrinology Nurse
  • Orthopedic Nurse
  • Nurse Practitioner
  • Clinical Nurse Specialist
  • Gerontological Nurse Practitioner
  • Neonatal Nurse

Note: In many of these nursing specialties, advanced education is required. Most nurses at the practitioner level have at least a Master’s degree, and are certified and licensed as Nurse Practitioners in addition to their field of expertise.

If you’re interested in finding a nursing specialty, talk with a nursing school advisor or spend a few years working in the field. The educational commitment required to reach the top of the nursing profession is pretty big, and although there are great benefits, the workload (in school and on the job) tends to be heavier, as well.

Related Topics:

Find the Right Nursing School For You

Educational Requirements of a Nurse Practitioner

Outsourcing Nursing

Published
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on July 24, 2010
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a_nurse_phoneFilling the nursing pipeline with enough RN’s to care for our rapidly growing patient population, has quickly become an exercise in problem solving involving lawmakers from all states and working at all levels of government. Some are quick to point out how the decades long nursing shortage has temporarily stalled.

But this is largely due to previously retired nurses filling the nursing pipeline for the time being. That can only last for so long, and a more lasting solution to supply more nurses for the workforce will soon be needed. Specifically, a few hundred thousand (and rising, especially if universal health care passes) nurses will be needed by 2025.

Many industry experts and lawmakers have looked toward foreign nurse “imports” (while trying not to make foreign trained RN’s sound like cars) to fill the pipeline. Florida representative Robert Wexler has proposed that the U.S. allow 20,000 additional foreign trained nurses to enter and work here, while we continue working on a more permanent solution.

In the “pro” column, welcoming foreign trained nurses into the American workforce helps to bridge staffing gaps and at a price that most hospitals can afford. In the “con” column, foreign trained nurses frequently encounter language and culture barriers, training and skill crossover challenges and require extra training to pass the NCLEX exam.

President Obama has stated that he would prefer legislators focus more on a solution to increase the capacity of U.S. nursing schools to graduate more students, and provide incentives to attract more nurses into the field domestically. He points to the rising unemployment rate as the best argument to make sure that all domestic nursing resources have been tapped before turning our attention to other countries.

The number of foreign born and trained nurses has risen over the years, from 9% of the total RN’s working in the U.S. in 1994 to 16.3% in 2008, as the shortage has worsened. With the nursing shortage worsening and the economy taking its regular hits, there is something to be said about the “home field” advantage right now, for those with a passion for the very recession proof field of nursing.

Source: Business Week Magazine

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Nursing schools

Recession Era Nursing

Published
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on July 12, 2010
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i_nurse_geriatricsResearch has shown that during times when most other professions are recessing, the field of nursing is hiring. Employment data reveals that during times when most job sectors are in a downturn, the employment of nurses grows by about 5.3% on average and increased by a much higher 8.6% during the current recession.

Hiring of hospital nurses increased by an astounding 18% in 2008.  These numbers may seem to be leveling off temporarily, but this is still cause to be optimistic for nurses and future nurses. It means that of any industry, nursing and other health care careers have the highest probability of bouncing back the quickest. One of the reasons for the current temporary slowdown in the hiring of nurses is that a big piece of the workforce who were poised to retire before the recession, were forced to keep working.

Many retirement age nurses have seen their nest eggs dry up or their spouses unemployed and therefore made the choice to keep working to make ends meet and attempt to rebuild their savings as much as possible. However, this cannot last forever and eventually these nurses will have to retire and their positions will need to be filled.

A Vanderbilt School of Nursing study showed that the current recession has put a temporary end to a long term nursing shortage that has strained hospitals across the country for the last 11 years. The same study predicts the imminent arrival of a more serious nursing shortage than the country has ever seen, in the next decade, especially since the predominant age demographic of working nurses is over age 50.

All of this data is good news for those considering a career in nursing, that despite many mixed reports due to the current downturn, nursing is one of the true recession proof careers out there and it always will be.

The Un-Retiring of Nurses

Published
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on June 28, 2010
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a_nurse_phoneOne of the most cited reasons for the temporary lull in the nursing shortage – a pause really – is the influx of previously retired nurses back into the workforce. When the economy started to stumble last year, nurses who had previously experienced “good bye” parties in hospital lounges everywhere came back and punched their time cards once again. However, the individual reasons for their return, varied from nurse to nurse.

Earlier this year, during my orientation to an RN refresher course, the instructor facilitator went around the room and asked all the previously retired nurses present in the class, why they were returning to the workforce. Rather than simply stating “the economy,” like one of the many industry reports floating around the media, the nurses in the classroom were specific, and personal.

Some were grandmothers, whose dried up 401K and pension accounts meant that they would not be able to fund their grand-children’s education as they had planned.  Or, they needed a stable paycheck to replace their own retirement income.

Others were forced to return to work after the recent unemployment of their spouse. Some of the younger students in the room, who comparatively had not been out of the health care industry for very long, were looking for stability (the same reason many new nurses are entering this recession proof field).

One thing that was clear, however, was that these nurses were well aware that the progress of nursing and health care in general had been marching steadily on since their departure. I listened as they discussed fears related to advancing technology, electronic medical records, new infection control protocols – and then technology again (computers).

What they were excited about returning to, other than the stability of a paycheck, was the connection with the patients. The “human” reasons for these nurses’ return to the workforce were the same reasons that new nursing students talk about. The economy may change, nursing job vacancies may fluctuate, and technology may march on, but the special relationships between nurses and their patients, is eternal.