In general, the job of nursing consist of medical or surgical nurses who take care of hospitalized patients, nurse practitioners who offer outpatient care for persistent diseases and registered nurses who monitor support staff.
There are various nursing careers available for the nurses in U.S. including full-time, part-time and flexible-hours positions around the world. It is estimated that demand as well as payment for nurses are growing and the demand is probable to be doubled by 2020 as that of 2005.
Nursing is a demanding profession with a number of opportunities to grow in this industry. A registered nurse can be promoted from a staff to management position in a particular organization within a couple of years. RNs can specialize in a particular area or they can develop their career by acquiring certification or a graduate degree. RNs with changing timetable can work part time and then go full time. Since there is a huge demand for a nurse, it is common for the registered nurses to manage more than one job at a time.
There are various clinical specialties in the nursing field including pediatrics, medical-surgical, geriatrics, women's health, public health, family practice, home care, intensive care and long-term care. There are also nursing careers in the field of education, administration, informatics and research. Nurse informatics field is in the limelight recently for the development and implementation of clinical documentation systems.
Nurse educators are wanted to instruct new nurses or nursing students. Nurse administrators are responsible for guiding the work of health care while nurse researchers are necessary to give services for effective health care.
All nurses should have expertise in working with patients and implementing their knowledge of physiology to the patients' possible and real health problems. Nursing should have some specific skills including physical examination, communication, diagnosing problems, intervening with patient education and technical procedures, problem-solving with the patient.