Now that you have excelled in your nursing education, it is time to embark on an exciting career in the field you have come to love and appreciate. The first places where nursing graduates search for employment are those locations typically associated with health care services: hospitals, doctor’s offices, medical clinics, rehabilitation facilities, and emergency rooms.
While those facilities certainly offer positions in nursing, many graduates do not realize the wealth of other diverse employment opportunities available to practical nurses.
Enlistment is not a requirement for working with the military. You may do so as a civilian, working through the Federal Civil Service. Your duties would remain primarily the same, and you would get to serve your country in a way that is ultimately helpful to those who serve through military service. Nursing alongside military personnel could also offer possible travel opportunities for those PN’s who wish to see the world while working in a civilian capacity.
If the Caribbean, the Pacific, or the Mediterranean sounds like a workplace made in paradise, then cruise ship nursing may be for you. Your obligation would be the care and safety of the passengers seeing a tropical vacation. The ailments can fluctuate between scrapes and sea sickness to more serious conditions that may involve transporting the patient to land. What may be lacking in immediate availability of supplies, stores, and family, may be found in the scenic waters of the seas.
For those who have strong religious or spiritual beliefs, faith-based nursing may be the calling they need in their careers. Faith-based nurses often work in churches, temples, synagogues, mosques, or other houses of worship. Similar to holistic nursing, faith-based nursing is concerned with spiritual health as well as physical health.
Many of the finer retirement communities throughout America have nursing staffs present or on-call at all times. Many communities will have doctors, but in others, a nurse is the leading practitioner. If you have a heart for the elderly and a desire to work in a relaxing environment designed specifically for peaceful retirees, a retirement community may be a perfect fit for a happy nursing career.
A career as a flight nurse offers a PN more excitement as your workplace is an airplane in transit. You will receive specialized training to care for patients who are being transported via a medical helicopter or airplane. A PN working aboard a flight may have fewer resources and may need an extra helping of patience, but the rewards can be worth it both financially and personally. If you have always loved flying and you want to travel the country or world free of charge, a flight nurse can be a satisfying alternative for a PN.
While these five alternatives can all be rewarding career choices for a PN with the right temperament, goals and personality, they are not the only alternatives. If there is a field that involves or transports masses of people, nursing may be needed. If you have the heart of a nurse but the free spirit of a traveler, there are definite opportunities that exist for your career as a PN. If you can dream it, it probably needs a nurse.
If you are a PN with the personality to take your career in a more challenging, unconventional direction, Athena Career Academy's trained, professional nursing counselors can guide you in the right direction. If your employment map and your career goals are as unique as your personality, call Athena Career Academy today.