Nursing Career Options

[nightingale, RN]

I found this website of interest and hope you do too. As I am working towards independence in practice, mindset, and career options, I joined the NNBA. Your comments are very much appreciated... B.:

http://cocoabeachlearning.com/Nursing%20Career%20Oppportunities.htm

By Patricia Ann Bemis, RN CEN

President & CEO

National Nurses in Business Association

http://www.nnba.net

Career guidance counselors recommend that people choose jobs they enjoy performing 80% of the time and the other 20% involve tasks that are not truly enjoyable but are felt to be necessary. They advise people to choose careers that are personally and financially rewarding. Nurses today want jobs that are satisfying, rewarding, or enjoyable. They are asking serious questions about their future careers in nursing

Typically, these questions are:

- Should I work for a hospital?

- What area is best for me?

- Should I work at the bedside or in management?

- Am I suited for a job outside of the hospital?

- What are my career options?

These questions are not easy for any nurse and are impossible to answer without knowledge of your options.

Employment opportunities in healthcare are increasing every day. As an employee your employer to provides the work place. Your role is to provide the healthcare as outline in your job description and to further the employer's mission. Advantages include regular dependable income, insurance and retirement benefits, and fixed work hours. Disadvantages include loss of autonomy, flexible schedule, and creative freedom. Most nursing career experts list more than sixty career options for registered nurses. The following career options are some of the most popular.

- Ambulatory care centers

- Cardiac rehabilitation

- Case management

- Community education

- Community nursing

- Health organizations

- Hospital acute care

- Hospital critical care

- Hospital emergency

- Hospital management

- Computer technology

- Dialysis units

- Education and training

- EMS pre-hospital

- Entrepreneurship

- Forensic nursing

- Sexual assault examiners

- Holistic Nursing

- Home care

- Informatics

- Insurance industry

- Mobile nursing units

- Mobile labs

- Mobile and fixed blood units

- Nurse coroner

- Nursing instructor

- Occupation health

- Outcome management

- Outpatient clinics

- Outpatient

surgical centers

- Parish nursing

- Pharmaceutical industry

- Public Health

- Rehabilitation nursing

- Research

- Risk management

- Sales

- Ships and cruises

- Telephone triage

- Telephone advise lines

- TV and film crew

- Writing and publishing

A nurse entrepreneur is a nurse who owns a business. Some of the advantages of entrepreneurship are: independence, autonomy, unlimited income possibilities, work structured around physical limitations, and flexibility of schedule. Creative freedom that accompanies independence is typically the most sought after advantage. As an entrepreneur, you are responsible for your failures and your successes. To be successful in business, an entrepreneur must have self-motivation, a strong personal drive, personal power, and determination. A successful entrepreneur needs communication proficiency and a passion for their business.

Education levels and types of degrees among nurse entrepreneurs vary. One only needs a nursing license and a business. Doctorate and master level nurses are not necessarily more successful in business than associate degree or diploma graduate nurses. A degree in business does not guarantee a profitable business.

A consultant, on the other hand, is an entrepreneur who provides specialized services to customers on an hourly or contractual basis. The legal-nurse consultant is the most popular. The American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants estimates that attorneys employ one-half of the legal nurse consultants and the other half are self-employed nurse entrepreneurs.

Many large companies have downsized in-house resources and hire consultants to do the jobs when needed. Types of consulting open to nurses are limited only by the nurses' imagination. Some current areas for consulting are: JCAHO pre-survey inspections, quality issues, cost containment issues, wellness programs, pre-employment physicals and drug screening, change-facilitators, safety programs, stress reduction, communication studies, CPR courses, automatic external defibrillators courses, and in-service health education.

In conclusion, the answers to career questions are different for each nurse. The nurses' talents, characteristics, and life goals must be matched to the career choice. To find a job that is enjoyable, you must explore your career options.

Bio-Patricia Ann Bemis, RN CEN is the president and founder of Cocoa Beach Learning Systems, a company providing nursing continuing education with home study, on-line courses, and seminars. Bemis wrote and published the Clinical Practice Guide of Emergency Care in August 2000, a 528-page core curriculum. She is President and CEO of the National Nurses in Business Association (NNBA) and a member of the National Association of Women Business Owners. The NNBA is a membership organization of nurses in business, nurses practicing nontraditional careers, and those exploring their career options.

[TRN]

I just wanted to let you know the NNBA has been a big disappointment for me and I will not renew my membership. It seems very unorganized and has minimal useful information. I feel it does more to promote the books and their own business ventures than help the members start their own business.

[SharonH, RN]

TRN, that is really too bad. They make it seem like they are a willing source of information for anything you want to do and also that they are supportive. I hope my experience will be different. By the way, what type of business were you hoping to start?(if you don't mind my asking)

[nightingale, RN]

I will share what my experiences are as they come up. So far, they have sent me additional information that I requested on self contracting and and IRS article of independent contracting.

Please share what your experience has been and how they have not been of help.

B.

[dmagee]

All of the information you are learning about being an independent contractor goes out the window when you are doing business Corporation to Corporation. Most of the laws are written to infringe upon employee/employer relationships and sole proprietors as independent contractors. Incorporate to avoid the headaches.

David

[SICU Queen]

I've debated joining the NNBA. They certainly do push their books! But they also seem like they have a lot of info.