What do nurses do

Opportunities if you pursue a higher degree or certification: You can earn the Nursing Case Management Certification RN-BC to show your expertise and professional dedication.

Certification can help you move into leadership in a case management department. Earning a credential may require additional experience. Job perks: Just like case management, quality review nursing allows you the opportunity to work remotely, especially if you work for a health insurance company.

Opportunities if you pursue a higher degree or certification: With your experience in quality review, you could pursue an MSN with an emphasis in patient safety. With this degree, you could work in healthcare leadership, helping to set safety and care standards that improve patient outcomes and experience.

You might also need to speak to large groups on health issues. If you want to make changes in your community, public health nursing might be the role for you. Opportunities if you pursue a higher degree or certification: If you decide to earn an MSN in public health nursing, you can take on even more leadership roles.

MSN-level public health nurses can help create public health policies, such as smoking cessation campaigns, to help improve community health. Your salary as an RN will depend on factors like your specialty, experience, and education.

Where you live can also play a big role. As an RN, both the degree you hold and your specific role can impact your day-to-day work and career growth. There is an industry-wide push for the degree to become more standard for RNs. Multiple healthcare organizations support this move, including the American Association of Colleges of Nursing AACN , which advocates for nursing education nationwide.

No matter your designation, nearly all nurses—including RNs— need a certain level of continuing education courses to keep their license current. Though not all states have these requirements, your employer might require continuing education to maintain a specialty certification. Stephanie Behring. Emma Geiser, RN. Home » Registered Nursing » Duties. Pediatric Nurses. Some common places where nurses work include:. Answering the question of what do nurses do can be challenging due to the fact that nurses are skilled in many fields and may choose to focus their trade specifically in certain types of care.

Some specific nursing fields include geriatrics, critical care, pediatrics, treatment planning, and case management. From working face-to-face with patients to managing their paperwork, nurses play a huge role in our lives and the profession continues to be a prosperous career path for those considering taking on this role.

Some different types of nurses and their education requirements include:. If you are interested in learning about more nursing specialties and their education requirements, read our guide on types of nursing degrees. Different classifications of nurses will earn different salaries:. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics. Since nursing is such a highly sought after profession that requires advanced training, education is key to your successful journey to becoming a nurse.

At Gwynedd Mercy University, you can choose from four undergraduate Nursing programs that fit your lifestyle. Gwynedd Mercy University also offers three graduate-level nursing programs and two post-graduate level nursing programs.

In addition to traditional on-campus undergraduate degrees and graduate-level nursing programs, you can choose to take online nursing programs at GMercyU to fit with your busy schedule. There is an old adage that you need a doctor to diagnose you, but a nurse to save your life.

To become a nurse is to become someone who improves and saves the lives of others. If you're interested in furthering your education to become a nurse at a top school of nursing in Philadelphia , Gwynedd Mercy University's Frances M. Maguire School of Nursing and Health Professions, can help you acheive your career goals.

Box Gwynedd Valley, PA Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube. Skip to main content. What Is Nursing? What Is a Registered Nurse? How to Become a Nurse? Why Become a Nurse? General Nurse Duties What do nurses do? Some different types of nurses and their education requirements include: Nurse Anesthetist. A nurse anesthetist assist mainly with medical procesdures, specifically with anesthetic.

Clinic nurses typically care for patients with non-life-threatening injuries, so the work is not as fast-paced. They can also expect to work more predictable shifts during regular business hours.

Critical care, also known as intensive care, involves treating patients with life-threatening conditions who are in need of constant care. They treat patients who have been in severe accidents, suffered strokes, experienced trauma or who have life-threatening illnesses.

Critical care nurses often care for patients who are intubated, ventilated or have multiple IV drips at a time. This requires knowledge of more equipment than nurses who practice in lower-stakes environments. They also generally have fewer patients under their care at a time, because each individual requires more attention and documentation. These types of registered nurse jobs call for individuals who can keep their cool in high-stress situations and apply critical thinking skills in a fast-paced environment.

Ambulatory care is the term applied to nurses who take care of patients outside of hospital settings. These include outpatient facilities, such as same-day surgery centers, rehabilitation centers and home hospice.

Examples of RN nurses who work in ambulatory care settings are: dialysis nurses, telehealth nurses and palliative care nurses. Because ambulatory care nurses can be specialists or generalists, they have a variety of duties. Hospice is one of the most common ambulatory care services available, with 1.

A hospice or rehabilitation setting allows nurses to form strong relationships with their patients, getting to know them and their loved ones over an extended period of time. On the other hand, a nurse in a surgery center will interact with new patients each day. So what does a registered nurse do? RN nurses are an integral part of a support system that requires them to wear many hats—from working with new technology to educating patients and providing life-saving procedures.

Nevertheless, all RNs have plenty of common qualities: They must be critical thinkers, problem-solvers and perceptive of patient needs—even unspoken ones. RNs are a valuable and irreplaceable part of any healthcare ecosystem. In order to fulfill the registered nurse job description, you must have intelligence and advanced training, but also compassion and attentive care.

Are you considering pursuing the fast-paced and rewarding work of nursing? Information represents national, averaged data for the occupations listed and includes workers at all levels of education and experience. This data does not represent starting salaries. Employment conditions in your area may vary. It has since been updated to include information relevant to There are some errors in the form. Please correct the errors and submit again.