For a variety of reasons, a registered nurse may tire of bedside patient care. The RN doesnt need to consider a career change just a shift in job title. Enter unique nursing jobs.
These positions can range from working on oil rigs to cruise ships to a lawyers office. They also may require additional education. Lets list these non-clinical RN jobs.
Nursing Informatics
This particular nursing field showcases the interface of nursing and technology.
With a master’s degree in nursing informatics, a nurse uses technology as it is applied in the field of nursing.
The job of a nurse in this specialization involves supervision of documentation, maintenance of healthcare procedures, tele-monitoring, web education, consulting and other functions of technology and systems.
Nurses in this field often have no bedside duties. Salaries range from $60,000 to $80,000 per year.
Cruise Ship Nursing
Cruise ship need doctors and nurses to handle first-aid and emergency situations.
If you have had experience in working for ambulatory care or emergency units, then this can count to your advantage when applying for cruise ship nursing jobs.
Jobs of this nature often run for 2-6 months, broken by a few weeks of rest before the cruise starts off again to a new tour or destination.
Forensic Nursing
Another cool nursing career away from the typical bedside care is forensic nursing.
Nurses in this field must have a good knowledge base on criminal laws and the justice system and problem-solving skills, aside from their nursing and hospital care experience.
Their task often involves identifying marks and injuries on dead bodies. A variation of this nursing practice is called legal nursing consultancy.
Nurses in this specialization often have had broad experience as bedside nurses, with additional credits and certificate earned as legal nurse consultants.
They are often seen working in government agencies, insurance companies and law firms. Nurses in this type of work earn at around $60 to $250 per hour.
Research Nursing
Nurse researchers are often needed in the study of new drugs or medical procedures.
RNs in this field are responsible for balancing the safety of the research subjects and the integrity of the drug or procedure being experimented on.
If you think doing studies, writing dissertations and applying for grants is something up your alley, you may find it useful to have a BSN as basic educational background, a degree in clinical research, and credential from the Society of Clinical Research Associates.
Researchers working to track disease trends are also called nurse epidemiologists. They often need to travel to parts of the world where epidemics occur to learn about disease trends. They also teach other healthcare professionals about how the disease can be controlled or prevented.
Expect to earn from $70,000 to $90,000 annually doing this line of work.
Flight Nursing
Flight nurses attend to patients who need to be transported aboard medical aircrafts.
Their responsibilities include keeping patients stable while aboard the plane or helicopter en route to other medical facilities.
They form a team of doctors, nurses, and paramedics to ensure that the patient is well cared-for while in-flight.
Camp Nursing
Camp facilities need nurses to ensure that they are able to deal with different emergency situations, from minor cuts to more serious injuries which are wont to happen in camps and similar adventure sites.
Nurses working in these facilities must be able to act quickly on emergencies, providing first-aid care and stabilizing patients, en route to facilities that can provide higher level of medical care.
Medical Aesthetic Nursing
How would you like to work in the beauty industry, e.g. spa or beauty clinics? Nurses now don’t work exclusively to provide care for the medically ill in healthcare facilities; they are also in-demand in the beauty industry.
They handle clients, instead of patients, who seek various treatments and services, including botox, chemical peels and laser therapy procedures.
Nurses work in various non-hospital settings, such as mental institutions, oil rigs, rehabilitation centers, decompression or hyperbaric facilities, offices, insurance companies, academe, and social work agencies handling diverse responsibilities.
While these jobs require the essential training, skills and experience gained as nurses in the clinical setting, the actual job descriptions are greatly atypical, diversified and expanded.
I hope this list of unique nursing jobs has been helpful.