Career Advancement Options for Rehab Nurses

[salud15]

Hi everyone,

I am a current nursing student. There are many field of nursing that interest me, but I am particularly interested in rehabilitation nursing. However, as I am fairly young, one big consideration for me is the ability to grow professionally in the specialty I enter. Of course, I know that I will gain experience and knowledge throughout my career no matter what, but I would like to also have the possibility to study for an advanced degree in my field that is both practically valuable and that confers greater responsibility and scope of practice (e.g. like being a CRNA or midwife or psych-NP in other specialties).

I was hoping that someone could help me understand what the potential career trajectories for a rehabilitation nurse might look like for someone who is interested in going back to school at some point. Are there jobs in management open to nurses and what are they? Are there positions for nurses with advanced nursing degrees in the rehab setting equivalent to the acute care nurse practitioners I see working in other fields (such as ICU and OR)?

Thanks for your help if you take the time to reply!

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

Are there jobs in management open to nurses and what are they? Are there positions for nurses with advanced nursing degrees in the rehab setting equivalent to the acute care nurse practitioners I see working in other fields (such as ICU and OR)?

You could become a DON (director of nursing) of a skilled nursing facility. You could also become a CNO (chief nursing officer) of a rehabilitation hospital. Both of these managerial positions usually require a BSN degree and experience as a rehab nurse.

If you become a nurse practitioner and secure employment with a physician who has admitting privileges at a rehab hospital, you will probably be seeing rehab patients.

[mom2cka]

The director of my unit is an RN with a BSN/MSN - my CNO is an RN with an MBA; NPs can't bill for some services so are not cost effective in an IRF, according to my physiatrist