Understand Your Duties and Roles as a Nurse Based on Your Niche

Any job that allows you to make a difference in the lives of others can be rewarding, and one of the professions that guarantee you this is nursing. Nurses are trusted with human life, as most of their responsibilities or tasks are centered around administering care to those injured, sick, and other times those nearing death. As the healthcare industry evolves, the need for nurses has also increased, making the career even more alluring. However, one needs to possess all the necessary qualifications, such as a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing.

The good news is you can study nursing online regardless of your location. Besides the educational qualification, understanding what you will face in your nursing journey prepares you for what lies ahead. While the experience is almost similar for most nurses, the difference boils down to your area of specialty. For example, the difference between the experience of a geriatric nurse and that of a mental health nurse is striking. Below are the different nursing specialties and what to expect from each line of duty.

Cardiac nurse

Cardiac nurses work closely with cardiologists and offer care to patients with heart conditions such as valve disease and unstable angina. They take on many tasks, including monitoring, assessing heart conditions, and helping out with treatment. These nurses should understand how to use equipment such as defibrillators. Besides administering care, such health givers often educate patients and their families on prevention and condition management, making it necessary for a cardiac nurse to possess good communication skills. 

Due to the evolving nature of cardiovascular medicine, nurses should be at par with the current services, including treatment methods. It is a faced-paced area that requires constant learning. Some of these patients will succumb to their problems, and that can affect a nurse. However, this should not get in the way of your work.

Critical care nurse

Critical nurses offer hands-on care to severely ill patients and those facing life-threatening problems. They work in Intensive Care Units, and these healthcare providers require advanced knowledge and skill in operating electronic devices that monitor and support patients’ lives. Depending on their specialty, the different units they work in include surgical, trauma, burns, cardiac and neonatal.

A critical care nurse works with a doctor and reports even the minute changes in a diseased condition. For this reason, attentiveness, organization, and efficiency are some of the qualities that describe an excellent nurse working in intensive care units.

Sometimes close monitoring can mean sitting by a patient’s bedside to give minute-to-minute care. Although the work is taxing and challenging, it is emotionally rewarding. Unlike nurses in other departments, critical care nurses may not form relationships with patients since most of the time, they are unconscious and are taken to step-down units once their condition improves.

Geriatric nurse

Geriatric nurses care for older adults’ physical, emotional, and psychological well-being to improve their quality of life. They spend a lot of time with these patients since most have ongoing or chronic conditions, including diabetes, arthritis, and osteoporosis. Work settings such as hospitals, care homes, and home healthcare offer employment to this nursing specialty.

Geriatric nurses have primary responsibilities such as formulating treatment plans, helping and training patients on everyday activities such as hygiene and medication management. Working with the elderly can be challenging and requires patience, empathy, good communication skills, and other times the ability to recognize verbal and nonverbal communication cues.

Palliative nurse

A hospice or palliative nurse is trusted with the care of patients who are nearing death. Most patients in hospice care have limited chances of survival and can live for up to 6 months only. Hospitals have hospice units, but most clients choose to be at home with family and loved ones.

Nurses offer medication to minimize pain and necessarily not to cure. These health care providers offer support and comfort to both the patient and the family. Close ties are usually formed during the line of duty, and most of the time, a nurse will feel the loss when a patient dies. Most hospice nurses describe their work as a calling rather than a job.

The nursing career is broad and gives you the chance to specialize in a specific niche based on your preference. The path you choose largely depends on your personal choices.