“Nurses carry the serious duty of dispensing compassion, comfort, and care without even a prescription.”
Perhaps this is why job growth in the nursing sector is expected to skyrocket in the coming years. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the job outlook for registered nurses is expected to rise at the rate of 6% till 2031. That’s twice as fast as the average of other professions!
The job scope is promising for nurses at all education levels. Let’s take a look at the most popular opportunities.
Nursing Job Profiles at the Entry Level
The below-mentioned nursing job profiles are most suitable for entry-level aspirants. These roles are meant to help them understand their career objectives.
1. Home Care Nurse
Home care nurses offer multi-dimensional nursing care to patients of all age groups. The only difference is that home care nurses extend patient care at home for a specific time period or a lifetime.
Some important duties of a home care nurse include medication administration, educating caregivers on patient health, offering emotional support, and promoting health and hygiene.
2. Junior Psychiatric Nurse
A junior psychiatric nurse essentially assists the senior nurse in a medical facility for patients with mental illnesses. These nurses may also extend patient care to disabled patients at home.
Some of the top responsibilities of a junior psychiatric nurse include providing everyday patient assistance, monitoring patient health, developing a detailed treatment plan, and maintaining medical records, among others.
3. Nursing Administrator
The primary role of a nursing administrator is to supervise other nurses. This role requires some prior work experience. Ideally, a year or two of experience as a staff, home care, or psychiatric nurse is adequate.
Some common responsibilities of a nursing administrator include recruiting and training entrants, developing work schedules, overseeing the smooth functioning of operations, and conducting performance reviews.
Nursing Job Profiles in the Government Sector
The Federal and respective state governments also offer a wide range of nursing job profiles to choose from.
1. Military Nurse
Also known as the army nursing corps, military nurses are highly specialized healthcare professionals serving the military. Similar to their civilian counterparts, military nurses also spend most of their time delivering patient care.
In the military, their responsibilities include maintaining patient records, collaborating with healthcare practitioners, administering medications, and establishing a military triage in war zones.
2. Industrial Nurse
Just like military nurses are involved in the army corps, industrial nurses deal with workplace health and safety. They take care of workers suffering from injuries, burns, and other health-related issues.
For instance – an industrial nurse will need to provide CPR in case of emergencies. They would promote health and wellness programs, document employment-related injuries, and work towards improving the general health of workers.
3. Nursing Tutor
The role of a nursing tutor is a highly advanced one. While the previous job profiles are suitable for nursing students with a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree, this role calls for a Doctorate degree.
For instance, Rockhurst University offers nursing students further work as nursing innovators with an Ed.D in nursing education online. The two-year course comes with one capstone project. At least 89% of the University’s faculty members are the highest degree holders in their field.
Aspirants can pursue the role of a nursing tutor to guide students in challenging areas through regular classes, assignments, and periodicals.
Nursing Profiles at the Private Level
Even at the private level, nursing students have plenty of career scope. Private opportunities are mainly offered by medical institutions, nursing homes, and clinics.
1. Nursing Manager
Nursing managers are professionals responsible for ensuring a healthy work culture in a medical facility. Their responsibilities include staff and patient satisfaction, ensuring proper standards of patient care are maintained, and solving administration-related issues.
Since this is also a highly specialized field, aspirants need to have a Master’s degree in Nursing at least.
2. Paramedic Nurse
A paramedic nurse would primarily be involved in the emergency department of a hospital. This means these nursing professionals cater to a patient’s urgent medical needs.
This may include stabilizing the patient till further help is available, administering drugs and intravenous fluids, cleaning wounds, reading X-rays, and more.
3. Nursing Educator
Even at the private level, you can pursue the role of a nursing educator. However, you would still need an Ed.D in nursing education online or in class.
This role equips a nursing professional to teach entrants crucial clinical skills, research and gather quality teaching materials, and carry out clinical research for hospitals.
Closing In
Nursing is among the most responsible professions, and rightfully so! Both at the government and the private levels, job opportunities are plenty. In fact, the 2023 State of the Nursing report found that 79% of nurses said that their units were understaffed.
Thankfully, with remote education, acquiring a nursing degree has become easier than ever! So, what are you waiting for?