So you've decided to pursue a career in nursing. The profession has changed mightily since the days of white stockings, thermometers and a good bedside attitude. As times have progressed, so have the number of nursing specialties. It is become a virtual alphabet soup with abbreviations such as LPN's, RN's and many others. Deciding what kind of nurse you'll be even effects your decision when attending an online university.
Even something as simple as the Wikipedia lists 80 different types of nursing specialties. All of them define the profession as focused on assisting individuals, families, and communities in attaining, maintaining, and recovering optimal health and functioning. Modern definitions of nursing define it as a science and an art that focuses on promoting quality of life as defined by persons and families, throughout their life experiences from birth to care at the end of life.
Critical to all this is certification. While Registered Nurses (RN's) don't need a specific kind of certification, you will need some kind to work in just about any magnet hospital or decent research facility. Certification means a nurse is an expert in a certain field, ranging from surgical to home health care. It is another important decision one must consider when entering the field.
The broadest category is the Registered Nurse (RN). They are loosely defined as advocates for the care of the sick and maintenance of their health. From there, an RN's responsibilities/powers are defined by each U.S. state's Nurse's Practicing Act (NPA). It takes a minimum of three years to get an RN diploma. The national average for salary is about $60,000.
Another main category is the Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN). They are often found working under the supervision of physicians in clinics and hospitals, or in private home health care. Education and training is vocational-based, hospital-based, or college-based, and can vary from 9 month to 3 years in time for certain specialties and require an associate degree in practical nursing. The average salary here is about $34,000.
Below the LPN is the Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA). The Nursing Assistant still holds a high level of ability, but without qualification is unable to often perform some tasks due to issues of liability and legality. They provide the bulk of the grunt work in a hospital setting, depending again on the NPA. The CNA's salary is the widest ranging, usually starting at just short of $20,000 and into the 30's.
From here the nursing field diversifies into a number of different specialties, and can range anywhere from social work and cruise nurses to setting up their own offices as nurse practitioners. Salaries and certification can be as wide ranging as the specialty.
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