RNs can work in a variety of healthcare settings, including:

 Hospitals
 Skilled Nursing Facilities
 Outpatient Settings
 Physician Offices
 Clinics
 Insurance Companies
 Government
 Community Health
 Elementary or High Schools
 Universities
 Correctional Healthcare Facilities

Advanced Practice Nursing Specialties

Certified Nurse-Midwives

Certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) work with women from adolescence to menopause and
provide gynecologic and primary health care. Although CNMs provide primary care for women
of all ages, they are mainly focused on reproductive health. CNMs care for women throughout
their entire pregnancies, including prenatal and postpartum care and while women are giving
birth. They also help care for newborns during the first weeks of life.

Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists

Certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs), as their name suggests, work with anesthesia
and are the highest-paid nurse specialists. CRNAs administer anesthetics during surgery, assist
with pain during childbirth and oversee conscious sedation. Depending on where they practice,
CRNAs have varying degrees of autonomy and may need a doctor with them as they practice or
simply need consent.

Clinical Nurse Specialists

Clinical nurse specialists become experts in a specialty, whether it is a specific population, such
as women or adults, or a specific type of care, such as cardiovascular or orthopedic. With their
expertise, clinical nurse specialists often act as consultants, managers and leaders and help make
decisions about patient care or make recommendations on how a hospital unit should be run.

Nurse Practitioners

Nurse practitioners, which are the most common specialty, also specialize in an area of expertise.
Unlike clinical nurse specialists who educate and consult, nurse practitioners are involved in
direct patient care. Nurse practitioners have a greater level of autonomy that includes prescriptive
authority. Many nurse practitioners have their own primary care practices.
Nurse Practitioner Sub-Specialization

Each of these specialties carries further levels of specialization along with them. Nurse
Practitioners have a particularly wide breadth of Nursing Specialties, sub-specializations for
advanced practice nurses to choose from.

 Acute care nurse practitioner

 Adult nurse practitioner
 Family nurse practitioner
 Gerontological Nurse Practitioner
 Neonatal nurse practitioner
 Pediatric Acute Care Nurse Practitioner
 Psychiatric and mental health nurse practitioner
 Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner

NON HOSPITAL NURSING CAREER OPPURTUNITIES

A variety of non-hospital nursing career opportunities are also available for RNs
who don't want to work in the fast-paced hospital environment. Typically, these jobs
require at least a few years of hands-on, clinical nursing experience. Nurses in an
alternative environment may travel, provide in-home care, or work in an office setting.
More of these alternative nursing opportunities will be available to nurses who hold a
BSN or higher. Career options include:

 Clinical Nurse Educator: nurse educators are registered nurses (RNs) who have
obtained advanced nursing degrees that allow them to teach nursing curriculum at
colleges and universities, teaching and helping to train the future nurses of the world.
They serve as faculty members in both nursing schools and teaching hospitals,
transferring their valuable knowledge, experience, and skill sets to their students who will
ultimately serve as the next generation of nurses. Many nurse educators, in addition to
working in the classroom and teaching, also work in clinical settings. The best nurse
educators will exhibit exceptional leadership qualities, have excellent communication
abilities, and have in-depth, comprehensive knowledge in their given field. Nurse
educators are responsible for designing, evaluating, updating, and implementing new and
current nursing education curriculum. These educational professionals act as both
advisers and role models for the students, assisting them in their journeys toward
becoming successful licensed registered nurses.
 Public Health Nurse: According to the American Public Health Association, public
health nursing is defined as "…the practice of promoting and protecting the health of
populations using knowledge from nursing, social, and public health sciences." Instead of
being stationed in a hospital or clinic setting, public health nurses reach out to patients in
 the community. This allows them to assess their environment, available resources, and
potential health care needs.
 Home Health Nurse: Home health nursing staff are responsible for caring for patients in
their homes, performing various tasks if patients and/or their families are unable to care
for themselves. Skills from many different specialties are necessary in the field of home
health:
 Medical- surgical
 Mental health
 Gerontology
 Pediatrics
 Community/ public health
 Travel Nurse: Travel nurses are RNs from various clinical backgrounds who work for
independent staffing agencies. They are assigned to different care areas on a temporary
basis to fill in short-term employment gaps.
Travel nursing is a specialty that took root when the field of nursing faced a
nationwide shortage. Hospitals, clinics, and other care areas had unfilled positions, yet
had patients needing care. To try and attract nurses to the open positions, employers
offered higher pay, housing, and covered the cost of relocating.
 Forensic Nurse: Forensic nurses specialize in caring for patients who are the victims of
trauma, violence, and abuse. They have a foundation in the criminal justice system as
well as nursing. They are on the front lines when victims of crimes need help the most,
providing sensitive, compassionate care while meticulously collecting relevant evidence
that may be needed later in court. Some forensic nurses choose to specialize in sexual
assault/trauma by becoming certified as Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE).
 Nurse Advocate: A nurse advocate is a nurse who works on behalf of patients to
maintain quality of care and protect patients' rights. They intervene when there is a care
concern, and following the proper channels, work to resolve any patient care issues.
Realistically, every nurse is an advocate. There are, however, certain positions which
allow nurses to specialize in patient advocacy.
 Hospice Nurse: Hospice Nurses are health care professionals that care for patients at the
end of their lives. The term "hospice nurse" is used by many as an umbrella term for a
number of different professions. When individuals refer to themselves as hospice nurses,
they're most likely employed as one of the following kinds of nurses: Certified Hospice
and Palliative Nursing Assistants (CHPNA) or Certified Hospice and Palliative Licensed
Nurse (CHPLN). Hospice nurses typically work with terminally ill patients and help
ensure their and quality of life during their remaining days, as opposed to working to cure
or fix a patient. Their primary responsibility is to help people live as comfortably and
independently as possible and with the least amount of pain during their last days.
 Telephone Triage Nurse: Telephone triage nurses, sometimes known as telehealth
nurses or TTNs, assist patients over the phone or via video chat. TTNs often help patients
decide whether they need to seek emergency treatment, make an appointment with a
 doctor, or if they can treat themselves. Telephone triage nurses are trained to ask patients
highly specific questions to accurately assess their case and refer them to an appropriate
health care professional. Telephone triage nurses have the ability to access patients'
health information profiles and pertinent charts online, giving them the unique ability to
assist their patients remotely. TTNs are especially useful for patients who must travel
long distances to reach a medical facility and for those who must struggle to pay for
medical services. They also assist doctors in reducing their patient load by remotely
guiding patients with minor health problems to save an often-expensive visit to the
physician's office. This helps to eliminate overcrowding and reduce long wait times in
emergency medical facilities. Most telephone triage nursing services are available 24
hours a day, 7 days a week, resulting in TTNs working odd hours and night shifts.
 Nursing Informatics
A nurse informatics career focuses on how to boost the management of information and
communications in the field of nursing. The goals are to boost efficiency, cut costs, and
boost patient care quality.
Nursing informatics integrates nursing science, computer science and information science
to better manage and communicate information, data and knowledge in the practice of
nursing. Nursing informatics specialists facilitate data integration, information and
knowledge so that they provide better support to patients, nurses and other health care
providers.
Where Nurse Informatics Work
Nursing informaticists frequently work in hospitals, health care facilities, consulting
firms, universities and corporations. Some of their most frequent job titles include the
following:
 Clinical analyst
 Informatics nurse specialist
 Director – clinical informatics
 Clinical informatics coordinator

 Nutrition and Fitness Nursing

Nutrition and fitness nurses provide education and support for patients who need to improve their
lives through proper diet and exercise. These nurses can work in health clubs, hospitals, spas,
and medical clinics. While they should be licensed RNs, the amount of direct medical care
provided in this role may be minimal. Nurses who wish to pursue this career option should hold
an ADN or equivalent diploma.

 Epidemics Research Nurse

An epidemics research nurse works in clinical or laboratory settings to research epidemics to

help create prevention and control plans. They may work alongside doctors and other scientists,
and they can observe patients who have contracted a disease with epidemic potential. An RN
license and BSN or higher are required for this line of work. Some epidemic research nurses will
go on to earn an MSN and DNP.

 Bioterrorism Nurse

A bioterrorism nurse provides many of the same services as a disaster nurse, but they may also
respond to bioterrorist attacks or attacks on a civilian population during the war. These nurses
must be able to work quickly under pressure and feel comfortable in a range of different
environments. Nurses wishing to pursue this option as a career choice should have emergency
room or critical care experience in addition to an RN license and a BSN degree.

 Pharmaceutical Research Nurse

A pharmaceutical research nurse can work for pharmaceutical companies or universities to

monitor clinical tests, provide advice about medication strategies, and help enroll patients in
clinical trials. Nurses with at least a BSN can apply for this line of work, though candidates with
MSN degrees may be given preference. Some universities offer certification in clinical research
for pharmaceutical research nurses.

 Occupational Health Nurse

Occupational health nurses help to maintain safe working environments, and they may also treat
workplace illnesses and injuries. An occupational nurse may find work in a factory or plant, in an
office building setting, or in a corporate capacity.

 Cruise Ship Nurse

For nurses who want to travel the world, a career as a cruise ship nurse may be the perfect job.
These nurses provide first aid as well as acute care for illnesses. They treat both the staff and the
cruise ship passengers, and they may be required to work every day of each voyage. To obtain
this type of job, you’ll need ACLS (Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support) certification, CPR
certification, and a minimum number of years working in emergency or critical care. Cruise ship
nurses typically hold a BSN degree.

 Health Administration Nurse

Health administration nurses take on more of a supervisory role in hospitals, nursing homes, and
laboratories. They may be in charge of overall patient care, scheduling, and create operating
budgets for the nursing staff. Working as a charge nurse can be a great real-life experience for
this job, but a BSN will also likely be required. There are several MSN programs for advanced
studies to help you prepare for this type of career.
  Disaster Management Nurse

A disaster management nurse provides a range of services for disasters, including prevention.
They may help local municipalities create a disaster management and prevention plan, and they
may also provide a response to emergencies. During a disaster, these nurses can perform triage,
administer first aid, and provide emotional support for people who have lost their homes or loved
ones. This role is ideal for a public health nurse wanting to advance his or her career. An RN
license and a BSN are both required for this role, though some employers may require an MSN.

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