Exploring Nursing Specialties, You Need to Know About
If you’re a nursing school student, you might be thinking about what to specialize in if you don’t want to become a general registered nurse. Or, if you’re a nurse in the workplace, you might think it’s time for a career change.
Whatever your current situation, nursing is a broad field with many different specialties to fit your lifestyle.
Even if you’re happy where you are, read on to learn more about unique nursing specialties that might surprise you.
5 Specialties to Consider
Flight Nursing
Yes, some nurses work on flights! Similar to nurse paramedics, flight nurses are trained to care for patients during emergency air transport. They administer pre-hospital care onboard helicopters and airplanes and work with physicians and paramedics during in-flight destinations.
Flight nurses must work in high-pressure situations with patients in critical conditions. Their tasks include resuscitation, triage, administering IV drips, and monitoring vital signs so that the patient is well enough to be safely deplaned.
You’ll find these nurses in civilian or military environments. Examples of places flight nurses work include hospitals, private medical transport companies, and the Air Force. The Air & Surface Transport Nurses Association (ASTNA) provides more information for nurses who work in transport nursing.
Nurse Entrepreneur
Nurse entrepreneurs work for themselves, taking on all the risk and responsibility of running their own businesses. The specific nature of their work varies depending on their specialization and area of expertise. These nurses can manage their own agencies, coach clients through telehealth, sell their own scrubs, and pursue other business ventures related to the field of nursing.
Many nurses start out as full-time employees with a side hustle and eventually grow into their businesses full-time. Others prefer to work on their own early in their careers.
There’s no right or wrong way to be an entrepreneur. In fact, nurses have gone on to careers in art, blogging, and public speaking.
To learn more about nurse entrepreneurs, visit the National Nurses in Business Association (NNBA) for information on how to get started. The U.S. Small Business Association (SBA) also has resources on small business grants and events that can help you flourish as a business owner.
Nurse Midwife
Certified midwives provide care during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period. They help expectant mothers navigate the pregnancy process and find safe delivery services in rural and urban areas. They also coach families on life after childbirth and care for infants after their first 28 days.
Midwives work in hospitals, clinics, private and public office settings, homes, and birth centers. Their care includes counseling on gynecologic health and discussions of family planning topics such as birth control. Midwives also conduct physical examinations, prescribe medications, and order diagnostic tests like labs or ultrasounds.
These nurses work one-on-one with the family or pregnant person, listening to their needs and reassuring them based on their concerns. The American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) has more information on midwifery and their roles in society.
Legal Nurse Consultant
These nurses work in the legal field, interpreting medical information for attorneys. They also act as expert medical witnesses in malpractice, personal injury, or workers’ compensation cases.
Legal nurse consultants in this field can be valuable since they are experts in medical terminology. Litigation teams need someone to interpret complex medical information they may not understand. In courtrooms, these consultants can also explain medical details to jury members who aren’t well-versed in the subject.
Given their skills, legal nurse consultants can work at law firms, insurance companies, consulting firms, and consultant agencies or even become self-employed with their practice.
Discover more about this particular nurse niche through the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants, a not-for-profit membership organization for nurses in the legal field.
Forensic Nurse
Like legal nurse consultants, forensic nurses also work in a field you wouldn’t expect— the criminal justice system. Their skills, however, are very much needed as they provide care to sexual assault, violence, and assault victims in criminal cases.
Forensic nurses perform roles that include collecting data and recording evidence, photographing injuries, interviewing patients and their families, and treating victims in physical pain. They also act as intermediaries between patients, families, law enforcement, and doctors.
Since this career is fast-paced and patient-facing, forensic nurses are expected to foster trust and understanding with the victim and assist the forensic team with any information needed for conviction. These nurses work in hospitals and emergency rooms, but they can also be found in laboratories and law courts.
Learn more about this specialty through the International Association of Forensic Nurses.
