Nursing specialty that deals with this?

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Good day, everyone!

I am about to start my nursing program this September, but this topic doesn't concern nursing school or at least, I don't think it does.

I recently discovered that I have a huge interest in vaccines and how they work. Also, how diseases work and how our bodies work to fight them. I am very sure that I want to be a nurse, but I wonder if there's a nursing specialty that deals with those topics.

For nursing school, which courses or subjects would they teach us about those topics- if there's any. I am already excited about nursing school, but the thought of having discussions about the said topics is making me even more excited!

Thank you so much for your time!

PS. Please, feel free to correct me on any spelling and grammatical errors. I would not take offense and would be very glad to learn from you as English is not my first language. Thanks again!

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Specializes in NICU, RNC.

Have you considered being a microbiologist?

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

There's the specialty of infectious disease nursing:

https://allnurses.com/infectious-disease-nursing/infectious-disease-nursing-887545.html

Then there's the role of an immunization nurse:

role of nurses in immunization services | Shot of Prevention

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Specializes in school nurse.

If you specialized in public health and research, you might land in an area that you liked. Be aware, both specialties (separately and combined) usually require some initial years of nursing experience and sometimes an advanced degree.

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Have you considered being a microbiologist?

Hi! I actually have before, but right now, I know to myself that I'd like to be a nurse more than I'd like to be anything else. I started to think that maybe there's a way for me to satisfy my interests and still be a nurse :) Any idea? Haha! Also thanks for replying!

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If you specialized in public health and research, you might land in an area that you liked. Be aware, both specialties (separately and combined) usually require some initial years of nursing experience and sometimes an advanced degree.

Hi! Thanks for replying!

I had a hunch that I'd probably need to achieve a higher degree of study and quite a bit of nursing experience if I wanted to have both (nursing + other interests).

Call me ignorant, but it had never occurred to me that Public Health Nursing would be something to consider! I guess, I didn't do enough research! Thanks again!

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There's the specialty of infectious disease nursing:

https://allnurses.com/infectious-disease-nursing/infectious-disease-nursing-887545.html

Then there's the role of an immunization nurse:

role of nurses in immunization services | Shot of Prevention

Hello! Thank you! That 'Role of Nurses in Immunization Services' have awesome articles. I especially liked the one with Patriot Nurse vs Canadian Nurse. Very informative! I'd like to be knowledgeable enough about vaccines so I can help educate people who are still on the fence regarding vaccination, but as of now, I know jacksquat! The information from the articles are such joy to read and very interesting to me.

Infectious Disease Nursing is very close to what I was searching for! I didn't even know that there's an actual nursing field that deals with infectious diseases. Thank you for this and I'll definitely do more research about it!

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Specializes in ICU / Urgent Care.
Hi! Thanks for replying!

I had a hunch that I'd probably need to achieve a higher degree of study and quite a bit of nursing experience if I wanted to have both (nursing + other interests).

Call me ignorant, but it had never occurred to me that Public Health Nursing would be something to consider! I guess, I didn't do enough research! Thanks again!

Here's a tip, don't let your community rotation tarnish your enthusiasm for this field. The patient care aspect was great, I actually loved being in schools/flu clinics/patient houses doing patient care, it had a really personal touch to it. However, it was also one of my most hated rotations because there was just so much paperwork and projects that everyday you had sword of Damocles over your head and that really put a bitter taste in my mouth for anything community nursing related.

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Specializes in Public Health, Maternal Child Health.

Just some ideas, research nursing, public health nursing (in the communicable disease department), epidemiology, immunology, etc, but honestly you haven't even started your program so you will be surprised how much of nursing is understanding pathphysiology and understanding the immune system. You need it daily in your work in most specialties. But look into research nursing or anything for the health department!

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