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Career Specialties

Career Specialties

July 23, 2007

Most registered nurses choose to follow a career path focused on a specific nursing specialty that fits their personality and intellectual interests. Some specialties involve being certified by a professional board or association which will often increase a nurse’s wages and long-term promotion potential. Below are links to several profiles of popular nursing specialties. Each profile includes the average salary and educational requirements for nurses in that specialty field. Links to related professional organizations are also provided. For more generalized information on choosing a specialty, see “Find your nursing niche” and “Find a Nursing Specialty”.



Related Links

Advanced Practice Nurse

Ambulatory Care Nurse

Camp Nurse

Cardiac Care Nurse

Case Manager

Certified Nursing Assistant

Clinical Nurse Specialist

Community Health Nurse

Correctional Nurse

Critical Care Nurse

Dermatology Nurse

Developmental Disabilities Nurse

Diabetes Management Nurse

Emergency Nurse

Flight Nurse

Forensic Nurse

Genetics Nurse

Geriatric Nurse

Gerontological Nurse Practitioner

Gynecology/Obstetric Nurse

Hematology Nurse

HIV/AIDS Nurse

Holistic Nurse

Home Health Care Nurse

Hospice/Palliative Nurse

Infection Control Nurse

Informatics Nurse

Infusion Nurse

Labor and Delivery Nurse

Lactation Consultant

Legal Nurse Consultant

Licensed Practical Nurse

Long-Term Care Nurse

Managed Care Nurse

Medical-Surgical Nurse

Military Nurse

Neonatal Nurse

Nephrology Nurse

Neuroscience Nurse

Nurse Anesthetist

Nurse Administrator

Nurse Attorney

Nurse Educator

Nurse Entrepreneur

Nurse Midwife

Nurse Practitioner

Nurse Researcher

Occupational Health Nurse

Oncology Nurse

Ophthalmic Nurse

Orthopaedic Nurse

Otorhinolaryngology (Head and Neck) Nurse

Pain Management Nurse

Parish Nurse

Pediatric Endocrinology Nurse

Pediatric Nurse Practitioner

Pediatric Nurse

PeriAnesthesia Nurse

Perinatal Nurse

Perioperative Nurse

Plastic Surgery Nurse

Poison Information Specialist

Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner

Psychiatric Nurse

Pulmonary Care Nurse

Radiology Nurse

Rehabilitation Nurse

Reproductive Nurse

School Nurse

Sports Medicine Specialist

Sub-acute Nurse

Substance Abuse Nurse

Supplemental Nurse

Surgical Nurse

Telemetry Nurse

Telephone Triage Nurse

Toxicology Nurse

Transplant Nurse

Trauma Nurse

Travel Nurse

Wound and Ostomy Nurse


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  • Photo_user_blank_big

    dd22

    2 days ago

    2 comments

    I am wondering if anyone can assist me with my questions.. I have a B.S. in health care management and was planning on going back to school for my nursing degree. How would l go upon doing that??

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    becky_l

    about 1 month ago

    1232 comments

    I am a Medical Assistant and proud of it.....you don't have to have a LPN or RN degree to have the citical thinking skills. All Medical Assistants work hard to get where we are also and sacraficed so much, sleepless nights, agony of school and hardship of personal lifes dealing with school just as you...you make it sound like I should work at McDonalds!

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    jiv2041

    3 months ago

    2 comments

    A Medical assistant is far from a nurse. I'm sorry to tell you. But you may do some minor procedures, and basic assessments, you do not hold the knowledge base that even an entry level graduate nurse has. Above all things, you do not have the critical thinking skills that a nurse has. 180 externship hours, I work more than that in a month. Just remember you work in a family medicine office. Don't judge a nurse based upon a family practice nurse. Although they are educated and qualified, they are limited in what they do, and you are limited in what you see get done. If you feel like your a nurse, come work with me in the ICU and let's see how your skill set mathces up. I by know means, mean to be disrespectful, but all Nurses can understand me. We worked so hard to get to the point where we our, and we all sacraficed so much, unless you went through the years of sleepless nights, agony of school and hardships of personal lifes dealing with school. Don't ever call your self a nurse!

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    mixedlady

    5 months ago

    12 comments

    This is very good info about all whats out there in the nursing field

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    ematthews89

    5 months ago

    6 comments

    I have been told many times that "I am not a nurse" because I am a Certified Medical Assistant. I spent my 2 yrs studying, testing, practicing in school and I did my 180 hours of externship in a family medicine office. I also passed my certification test that consited of 250 questions with a 94. I realize my education does not compare with the LPN's and RN's that I work with in the office I work in, and that I am not allowed to do triage, but I work just as hard along side the interns, residents and attendings as the nurses. I feel very fortunate that my duties consist of clinical patient care and not "clerical staff duties." I have nothing against their work, they take a lot of heat at the front desk, but I love patient care. My care for my pt's starts the moment I call them back for vitals to the moment they walk back out the door. I not only obtain vitals, but also do testing, (strep, HCG, labs) assist with procedures, including cyst and IUD removals, immunizations and other injections. And I do it with the most comapassion and kindness as I can. I know I am "not a nurse" in reality, but isn't the job of a nurse to show compassion and care to each and every pt? I take pride in how I treat my pt's and how I do my job. And if it were not for family issues I would be going back to school to obtain my LPN or RN. I'm not looking for praise and I expect maybe some people will not like my coments, but for me "nurse" is a well earned title, but without the compassion behind it aren't they just letters put together? thanks

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    tigisthahile

    6 months ago

    4 comments

    very very informative

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    mcmroach

    7 months ago

    2 comments

    Because Medical Assistants are not nurses.

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    Yliana

    8 months ago

    2 comments

    Why don't you have MEdical Assisting as a career? Don't we matter too.

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    Nedugrace

    8 months ago

    2 comments

    how much does LPN make

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    armstrongcj

    9 months ago

    6042 comments

    This is very informative. I did not realize that there is so many nursing jobs.

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    butterflykisses

    about 1 year ago

    4 comments

    Hey i dont see Medical Assistant as a career?

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    teamrn

    about 1 year ago

    54 comments

    One area in nursing encompasses most of the above areas. That is WRITING about health care, writing about nursing, explaining 'doctor-speak.' In our practice, we teach this every day. Submitting articles to nursing journals doesn't pay well, but it can lead to very rewarding and meaningful work, if you're lucky enough not to have to rely on this fulll-time.

    That said, there are many nurse who do this full-time, working as clinical nurse editors and contributing editors. Who do you think contributes often to the Prevention magazines, the AARPs, WebMDs Women's Health, etc. of this world? So, if writing interests you, nursing is your passion, take a writing class or 2 and begin submitting articles and surf for information on freelance medical writing.

    Start by honing your writing skills and developing 'ins' with editors.
    A few links:
    http://www.nasw.org/
    http://www.mediabistro.com/
    http://writersdigest.com/#
    http://www.enursescribe.com/launch.htm

    teamRN

  • Photo_user_blank_big

    kipp828

    about 1 year ago

    8 comments

    very very informative

  • Photo_user_blank_big

    kipp828

    about 1 year ago

    8 comments

    very very informative

  • Photo_user_blank_big

    kipp828

    about 1 year ago

    8 comments

    very very informative

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