Choosing nursing as your career path is a noble decision. When we talk about nurses, we imagine individuals dressed up in scrubs working alongside doctors to ensure quality patient care. But what if we told you, being a nurse does not necessarily mean fitting into that image?
While most of the registered nurses fit the description mentioned above, there are several other career paths for nurses that people don’t talk about as often. If you want to pursue your nursing career a little differently, you can opt for one of these non-traditional nursing jobs. While they’re different from the traditional hospital nursing jobs, they’re just as noble.
Health Coach
A healthy lifestyle is crucial for all of us. This holds even more importance to people who are already living with medical conditions. As a nurse, you have first-hand knowledge about these conditions and can make life easier and, perhaps, better via health coaching.
As a certified health coach, you will train people and help them live a healthier lifestyle. Your responsibilities will include fitness and diet planning, mental health management, and maintaining a healthy work-life balance.
Nurse Researcher
Almost every field of work is making progress in the present day and age. And a massive part of this progress is due to research. Research and development is the key to the future of improved patient care.
If you want to help the nursing field progress in the future, you can opt to be a nurse researcher. The job does not require a lot of on-field work but significant knowledge. With a research career, you can dedicate your time to identify ways to enhance nursing and patient care.
Nurse Educator
Teaching is just as noble a profession as nursing. The combination of the two disciplines is double the service to humanity. There are several budding minds out there that aspire to take up the nursing profession. As a nurse educator, you can help aspiring nurses to accomplish their dream. With an online masters degree in nursing, you can quickly start working as a Nurse Educator.
Medical Sales Representative
A sales representative’s job is usually thought to be exclusive to those who have studied business, sales, and marketing. While this may true to some extent, a relevant nursing qualification can ensure better success as a medical sales rep. As a nurse, you will have the edge of added medical knowledge while upselling regulated and consumer stability healthcare products.
You will also be able to answer any unexpected questions related to the product and generate better sales. Not to mention, the job is one of the highest paying jobs out there. If you can rake in sales, expect nothing less than a handsome six-figure salary.
Legal Nurse Consultant
Law and medicine are often thought to be two entirely unrelated fields. However, there is a very close relationship between the two. Several legal complications arise in everyday medical and nursing practice. As a legal consultant, you need sufficient knowledge of the ethics and morals involved in day-to-day medical practices.
However, to practice as a legal nurse consultant, you will need additional qualifications. If you have graduated with a law degree, pursuing this degree will be considerably easier for you. Or get relevant qualifications and legal licenses with a background in nursing.
Cruise Ship Nurse
Looking for a career path that will allow you to have fun while on the job? Here is the perfect opportunity for you. Any job can be fun if you have sufficient interest and passion for what you do. However, the settings of your workplace play a significant role in job satisfaction. Working at a hospital can be a little depressing given the environment that one works in.
Working as a cruise ship nurse will provide you freedom from the mundane routine of a hospital. You get to enjoy your time on a cruise and travel more while you are on the job. It is almost like having fun and getting paid for it.
While the job comes with loads of enjoyment, there are also a significant amount of responsibilities on your shoulder. A big or small medical emergency would require a prompt and appropriate response since medical backup would take time to arrive.
Hospice Nurse
Nurses play the most crucial role in providing quality patient care to the elderly. Older people require much help daily, especially if they are suffering from a terminal illness. A hospice nurse is one that cares for such individuals and their needs.
Working as a hospice nurse is a meaningful career option if you have a passion for serving the elderly and terminally ill. The job comes with high personal satisfaction and fulfillment. With an average pay scale of $75,000 annually, hospice nurses make just as much as the traditional nurses, if not more. Therefore, this is a job opportunity that is not only morally rewarding but financially gratifying as well.
Conclusion
We often think of different career paths in terms of what they are frequently represented as. However, we do not necessarily need to follow what the majority is following. Like other fields, nursing also offers a wide variety of job opportunities to those willing to divest. With more research, you can find a career path that is ideal for you. It will enable you to perform your duties with dedication while enjoying what you do.