Generally, the nursing profession is one of the fastest-growing fields nowadays, but some nursing fields are experiencing more rapid growth than others. Getting an aspiring nurse or a fresh graduate familiar with these prominent nursing fields gives you an idea of the certifications and skills your potential employers covet.
As a prospective nurse, when choosing a carrer in nursing, some specialized areas are short in supply from which you can pick. This article will help you learn about some of these fields and the requirements to attain each role without a barrier.
Furthermore, this article shows nurses’ roles in these fields, average salary, and projected career growth rates. Sit back and enjoy as you read through.
Table of Contents
Nurse Practitioner
As a nurse practitioner, you can work jointly in a team or choose to practice independently in a series of health care settings.
Nurse practitioners are usually registered nurses (RNs) with specialized post-graduate degrees. The minimum qualification required is a Master of Science in Nursing, accompanied by a Practitioner license, as your state indicates.
Nurse practitioners’ certifications, licenses, and skills acquired equip them to order tests, assess, diagnose, prescribe medications and treat patients. As a nurse practitioner, you can work in offices of physicians, hospitals, outpatient care centers, the education sector, etc.
You must note that the demand for the services of a nurse practitioner is in high demand. In the report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), nurse practitioners’ job rate is projected to have a 45% growth rate by 2030. Also, in May 2021, their average annual wage is $120,680, which indicates a very lucrative field.
Intensive Care Unit Nurses
Intensive care unit (ICU) nurses are also called critical care nurses. They are highly trained and specialized health care personnel who properly care for patients with life-threatening issues.
Critical care nurses must be highly skilled with specialized experience as they are usually required to make split-second decisions in response to sudden changes in patients’ conditions.
They must be able to work under pressure making no irreversible mistakes because they deal with patients who may be intubated or on numerous life-saving machines and medications. Critical care nurses are always on their toes, giving proper care to restore wellness to their patients.
Often, ICU nurses are responsible for analyzing laboratory results, performing authorized therapeutic procedures, emotionally supporting patients, responding to emergencies, and mounting and keeping an eye on medical devices.
Demand for intensive care unit nurses is projected to have a 15% increase by 2026. Although many factors such as experience, certification, location, and facility type help determine how much you earn, the average annual wage of a critical care nurse estimated in June 2022 is $120,243, according to ZipRecruiter.
Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetic
Certified registered nurse anesthetic (CRNA) gives pain prescription (anesthesia) care to patients scheduled to undergo surgery before, during, and after the procedure.
They give medications to keep patients sleeping or not feeling pain during a medical procedure. Furthermore, they constantly watch to ensure patients’ bodies perform the necessary biological functions.
In addition, nurse anesthetics do physical assessments, give preoperative teachings, and help patients recover from anesthesia. They often work with doctors, anesthesiologists, and surgeons to make a surgery successful.
To become a CRNA, you must first be registered as a nurse. Then you must complete a Master’s degree in nursing and gain experience administering anesthesia while being supervised in a clinical setting.
Having become an advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) through the processes mentioned above, you must take the exam for certification according to your state law.
From the research of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nurse anesthetics should earn an average annual wage of $195,610 and expect an employment growth rate of 45% by 2030. This data shows that nurse anesthetic is a lucrative and fast-growing nursing field.
Nursing Administrator
A nursing administrator is responsible for the smooth running of the nursing sector. A nursing administrator is in charge of several operations such as HR functions of hiring and firing, budgeting, orienting, and staff management.
To become a nursing administrator, you must complete a master’s degree in healthcare administration. A master’s degree in business administration is also an added advantage.
According to BLS, the annual average wage of nursing administrators as of May 2021 is $101,340, and the employment growth rate is projected to be 32% by 2030.
Nurse Educator
Maybe at a point in your nursing career, you wish to take a break from patient care, if direct work with other nurses where you educate and train them sounds adorable. Then being a nurse educator is your best bet.
Nurse educators equip aspiring nurses to face the challenging demands of nowadays’s dynamic health care system. They achieve this incredible goal by inspiring, teaching, and mentoring nurses, even after graduation.
They give instructions to prospective nurses and guide them both in educational and practical settings. To have a career in the nurse educator’s field, you must have a minimum master’s degree in nursing, and often, a doctoral degree can take you further.
Nurse educators can work in hospitals, nursing programs, universities, staffing agencies, healthcare companies, etc. As reported by the BLS in 2021, the average annual wage of a nurse educator is $82,040.
Nurse educators are in short supply with increased demand for their services. If you desire to get off patient care duty, now is the time to fill the positions at either undergraduate or postgraduate level as a nurse educator.
Pursue A Fast-Growing Career In The Nursing Field
If you have empathy and compassion and you are at crossroads on how to impact people’s lives, a career in the nursing fields listed above can be your way out. Not only do you get satisfaction in what you do, but you also have a feeling of relevance and earn well for your services.
There is rapid growth in the healthcare industry, and nursing is a considerable part of the growth. Additional benefits of being a nurse are deciding where and when to work, positions to hold, and the opportunity to pick from being a part-time or full-time worker.
