Exploring Niche Nursing Degrees and Job Opportunities
When people think of nursing, they often imagine a person in scrubs doing rounds— endlessly long rounds—on a sterile hospital floor. While this is undeniably the experience that many nurses have, it’s far from the only option available.
Niche nursing certifications allow you to explore unique opportunities that may be more to your liking. They also give you more lifestyle flexibility. Floor nurses may have evening shifts, weekend shifts, holiday shifts, and so on.
How It Works
Before we get too deep into the various opportunities that are available to nurses, it’s important to understand how gaining niche qualifications works. While these credentials typically do come from education, they aren’t often part of the standard nursing curriculum.
The majority of nurses get the same standard four-year degree. They pass the NCLEX and jump through all of the other hoops their state requires before beginning their careers. From there, they figure out what work they want to do, and what additional qualifications will be required.
Sometimes, you can find work outside of the traditional hospital setting with no additional qualifications at all.
For example, if you want to work in a general practitioner’s office, you probably won’t need any additional qualifications to get started.
If, on the other hand, you wanted a career in informatics nursing, you will probably need a graduate degree.
The majority of opportunities find a middle ground. To get these opportunities you won’t need to go back to school for a full four years, but you will need to get additional certifications and generally satisfy whatever other requirements you state, and the place you wish to work at, has established.
Below, we take a look at some popular niche nursing jobs and describe what it will take to work them.
Nurse Anesthetist
Nurse Anesthetists are advanced practice nurses who specialize in providing anesthesia-related care. They administer anesthesia during procedures and play an important role in ensuring both safety and comfort.
Becoming a nurse anesthetist usually requires that you get a Master of Science in Nursing with a specific focus on nurse anesthesia. You will also need to acquire clinical experience in the acute care setting—particularly in a surgical context.
When you have completed all of the educational requirements, you will then need to pass a series of nationally required board exams. You may also encounter additional localized requirements.
Nurse Midwife
Nurse midwives focus on pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum care. They offer personalized holistic care to women, with an emphasis on childbirth practices.
While this may sound quite a bit like a labor and delivery nurse, there are several core differences. The main one is that nurse midwives work with patients at every stage of their pregnancy. Most labor and delivery nurses only meet their patients when it is time to deliver the child.
There are also educational differences. Nurse midwives typically have an MSN with a concentration in nurse-midwifery. They gain clinical experience in gynecology and obtain all necessary certifications.
Clinical Nurse Specialist
Clinical nurse specialists have expertise in specific aspects of nursing. This could involve providing very niche patient care, contributing to the medical research community, or taking on advanced roles in health-related education, administration, and leadership.
Like many of the other jobs on our list, it typically requires an MSN. Depending on what direction you want to take your career, you may need to jump through additional certification hoops.
Nurse Practitioner (NP)
Nurse practitioners are not exactly niche in and of themselves— though they have almost endless opportunities to specialize. They more represent a hybridization between the specialties of a general practitioner and a nurse.
Depending on where you live, you may actually have almost the exact same opportunities as a general practitioner— including writing prescriptions, making diagnoses, and even opening your own practice.
You can also specialize. For example, if you are interested in psychiatric care, there are NP career paths that will allow you to do that.
Nurse practitioners must get their MSN, but also pass boards specific to the healthcare niche they wish to work in.
Forensic Nursing
Forensic nurses straddle the intersection of health and law enforcement, providing specialized care to victims of criminal abuse. They also collect crime scene evidence and are frequently used to provide testimony in legal proceedings.
Forensic nursing does not always require an MSN, though there may very well be certification requirements you will need to meet in your community.
Conclusion
The information contained in this article is designed to give you a good idea of what is out there. However, it is far from comprehensive. There are dozens of nursing jobs that go beyond the standard floor nurse experience.
Some of them require lots of additional certificates. Many do not. Keep in mind that healthcare is in a state of crisis right now. Most hospitals are struggling to find qualified professionals to fill their staff. Obviously, that does not mean they will skirt legal requirements and hire an unqualified candidate.
It does, however, mean that many will be willing to work with an RN who wants to pivot into a new direction. If you already work at a hospital, find out if they have any programs available for helping nurses get their MSN. You may find that they are willing to pay for some or all of your degree.
If the position you are interested in does not require an MSN, the hospital may work with you as you go through the trainings and certifications that the position requires.
The road to a niche healthcare career is a little different for everyone. Regardless, you have lots of options as an RN. Don’t be afraid to start exploring them.
