Nursing Careers: Explore Opportunities & Career Paths

Obtaining a nursing degree can open up a wide world of opportunities in the health care field. Registered nurses can use their degrees for bedside care or management.

Hospital

• The most common career route for nurses is to work at a hospital. This will allow you to gain bedside experience, which will also help you apply theoretical skills you learned in school into practice. An alternative to working at a hospital is working with a doctor in a private practice.

Travel

• Nurses can work as travel nurses. You can be employed by a local clinic or a medical testing company that will compensate you for traveling to a patient's house.

Administration

• Nurses who receive additional degrees can also work at the administration level in a hospital. They can act as directors or case managers.

Nursing Home

• Nurses can also work at a nursing home, where they care for the elderly. Duties include lifting, helping seniors with daily living activities and making sure they are in a healthy condition.

Long-term Care

• Individuals may also hire you to work at their house as a personal nurse. Usually, these individuals have problems with walking or feeding themselves, which means that you will have responsibilities beyond traditional medical duties, such as cooking and cleaning.