There are numerous ways to maximize your career potential as a nurse.
For instance, over one hundred nursing specializations exist to develop skills and build your experience.
You can also pursue post-graduate education and certifications to receive higher pay and better career opportunities.
This article explores the different methods and strategies to maximize your employment potential as a nurse.
1. Explore Different Nurse Specializations
There is a broad diversity of career specializations for registered nurses.
It includes careers in direct patient care settings like hospitals, physician’s offices, urgent care, and community health centers.
It also includes non-bedside careers such as research, legal consulting, education, mental health, and aesthetics/cosmetics.
Understanding these domains enables you to choose a vocation that accommodates your skillset and interests.
Operating in professions like travel nursing or working as a float nurse is beneficial for gaining experience in diverse settings.
These occupations enable registered nurses to work in different specializations on temporary assignments.
As a result, you develop your skills through numerous domains rather than operating in a single specialty for several years.
2. Match Your Skillset With Your Passion
One of the best ways to flourish in your nursing career is to ensure your skillset and passions correspond well together.
For instance, becoming an aesthetics/cosmetics nurse is perfect for those who enjoy enhancing beauty and self-care.
Selecting a career as a research nurse is beneficial for those who prefer research-based occupations.
Becoming a legal nurse consultant enables you to help lawyers resolve legal-medical cases for those interested in law.
Finally, nurse advocacy at the government level enables you to affect policy changes and hospital procedures.
Matching your skillset with your passion keeps you engaged with your job and prevents boredom.
It also allows you to make meaningful and impactful contributions to healthcare, giving you a deep sense of purpose.
3. Consider Careers Outside of Direct Care
Most nurses are known for operating in hospitals, physician offices, home healthcare services, and nursing care facilities.
Nonetheless, there are numerous careers registered nurses can pursue outside direct care.
It includes research, education, mental health services, entrepreneurship, legal consulting, coaching, and other disciplines.
Switching to non-bedside care is ideal for those who need a career change or no longer enjoy direct care.
Non-bedside care careers still enable you to significantly affect the healthcare system by influencing different areas of nursing.
It also enables you to assist other professions requiring medical/healthcare knowledge.
However, you’re education, career experience, and training will concentrate more on support and education than direct care.
4. Become a Travel Nurse
Travel nursing employs thousands of professionals to travel the United States and help various healthcare facilities.
This profession provides numerous benefits that make it extremely rewarding and motivating.
Firstly, travel nurses work on temporary assignments supporting healthcare facilities that require extra staff.
The temporary assignments may last from a few weeks to a few months.
During this time, travel nurses will provide support in understaffed departments.
As a result, these specialists can operate in numerous departments and disciplines throughout the year.
A travel nurse may work in labor and delivery on one assignment and the surgical department on a different job.
It enables them to develop various skills in diverse settings, making them highly valuable over time.
Travel nurses also earn exceptional incomes, with some specialists making up to three times the hourly rate of staff nurses.
Finally, travel nurses operate in various locations throughout the United States.
You can work in unique places like Hawaii, New York City, San Diego, Houston, Los Angeles, and Boston.
You can also pick more remote locations in rural areas if you prefer a slower work pace.
5. Purse Further Education
Most registered nurses obtain an ADN or BSN degree.
It enables them to pursue various careers within the nursing profession.
Nevertheless, obtaining a BSN is highly beneficial for nurses who want to operate in non-entry-level positions.
The BSN provides more comprehensive education and training to prepare nurses for over one hundred specializations.
Registered nurses who want to perform at the highest level of healthcare and nursing can pursue post-graduate education.
It enables them to become advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs).
APRNs have the broadest scope of practice within the nursing discipline and operate in one of four specializations.
It includes certified registered nurse anesthetists, clinical nurse specialists, certified nurse practitioners, and certified nurse midwives.
Advanced practice registered nurses diagnose patient conditions, treat various health issues and prescribe medications.
Some also act as primary care providers and operate independently in full-practice states.
Others operate as educators, supervisors, management, mental health experts, and business owners.
Advanced practice registered nurses hold prestigious positions in healthcare and earn exceptional incomes.
For instance, certified registered nurse anesthetists earn one of the highest incomes among all professions in the U.S.
These nurse specialists easily earn six figures, with some making over $300,000 annually.
6. Obtain Useful Certifications
There are many certifications registered nurses and APRNs can pursue to further their education and career skills.
These certifications enable them to provide advanced care, operate in different specializations, and earn higher salaries.
Obtaining additional credentials also allows nurses to advance their careers by offering valuable skills to employers.
For instance, there are diplomae for ambulatory care, genetics, oncology, coaching, legal consulting, and holistic care.
Nurses can also get certified in radiology, plastic surgical nursing, pediatrics, management, and other specializations.
Nevertheless, the most common certifications include Basic Life Support (BLS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS), and Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS).
Additional Resources:
- Complete List of Common Nursing Certifications
- American Nurses Credentialing Center
- American Heart Association
7. Develop Supportive Relationships
Establishing supportive relationships and work connections is beneficial for numerous reasons.
Firstly, deeply connected relationships enable you to minimize nurse burnout and overload.
These relationships provide opportunities to decompress, reevaluate vital decisions, and find personal fulfillment.
Developing work connections is also beneficial for finding new career advancement opportunities or changing professions.
Connecting with others in your profession enables you to have meaningful conversations with those who understand your perspective.
Supportive relationships and work connections can impact your life in unforeseen ways.
Some healthcare professionals find work in states they previously never considered.
Others learn about fascinating careers they didn’t know existed.
These relationships are essential for education, emotional stability, and introspection.
At the very least, developing relationships and work connections provides a level of safety, satisfaction, and support.
8. Get Published
Getting published via self-publishing or working with industry leaders helps establish you as an expert in your domain.
It’s a highly beneficial strategy to receive job offers or maximize your chances of getting hired in your specialization.
For instance, nurse researchers and educators benefit from publishing papers in journals and education-based sources.
It enables them to display their expertise and develop a name for themselves.
General registered nurses can use self-publishing or blogging to establish a reputation and earn money.
There are numerous ways to get published and build a reputation.
You can start a blog, write for a magazine, medical journal, or publication, or create an ebook to sell on Amazon.
Whatever method you choose, ensure that you create high-quality, in-depth, informative, and helpful content.
9. Exercise Self-Care
Self-care is one of the most impactful and beneficial things a person can do to maintain their health regardless of their career.
Staying motivated, performing complex tasks, and minimizing burnout are challenging without adequate rest and recovery.
As a result, it’s essential to stay on top of self-care and find ways to keep your mind, body, and soul healthy.
Self-care includes getting adequate rest, recovery, nutrition, and exercise daily.
It also includes building strong relationships, pursuing passion projects, and finding healthy ways to alleviate stress.
Some people enjoy working on hobbies, playing sports, socializing, or cooking to relieve stress and find fulfillment.
Others pursue forms of therapy like massages, float tanks, acupuncture, and discussions with mental health experts.
The strategies you use to manage your mental/physical health and sustain self-care must be personal and beneficial to you.
VeryWellMind.com offers 5 Self-Care Practices for Every Area of Your Life to alleviate stress and maintain optimal health.
10. Consider Entrepreneurship
Nurse entrepreneurship and independent employment aren’t for everyone.
However, some nurses use their expertise and background to build products and services that improve healthcare.
Nurses have a unique perspective and skill set beneficial when providing healthcare solutions.
Using these skills effectively enables nurses to enable to work independently.
It also enables them to earn an income while significantly impacting other people and businesses.
Some entrepreneurs use a prevalent phrase: “one thousand true fans.”
It refers to building a business and lifestyle around one thousand people who genuinely love and support what you offer.
With one thousand fans/customers paying $100 a year for products or services, you can make $100,000 annually.
As a result, you don’t need a large audience or a big brand to earn a living!
Consider using your particular skills and knowledge to start a small business or side hustle.
You can build your business on the side while working and eventually establish yourself as an expert.
It enables you to develop your talents on the side and slowly replace your income.
Some nurses start blogs/websites and earn money through affiliate marketing or offering products and services.
Others become private tutors, wellness health coaches, freelance writers, or legal consultants.
Best of all, there is no financial ceiling for successful nurse entrepreneurs.
Read 10 Business Ideas for Nurse Entrepreneurs to discover fantastic opportunities to start a self-sustaining career.