What Is a Charge Nurse? A Look at These Hands-on Nursing Leaders

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charge nurse When exploring potential healthcare careers, you’re drawn toward the idea of becoming a nurse. Working directly with patients and saving lives sounds like it could be the perfect job for you. But you’re also interested in putting your leadership skills to work as well. Taking on the role of a charge nurse is an excellent way to get the best of both worlds.

Perhaps you’ve heard about this role or have seen a job posting mentioning it, but you’re not totally sure what life in this position would look like—and you have questions. What is a charge nurse? What is a charge nurse responsible for? What’s the difference between a charge nurse versus a nurse manager?

Today, we’re answering all your questions about working as a charge nurse. Keep reading to find out if a career as a charge nurse is for you.

What is a charge nurse?

“I used to tell new charge nurses that they were like the ‘quarterback’ of the unit,” says Martha Paulson, former charge nurse and current clinical manager at Advantis Medical Staffing. “They’d be calling plays, knowing who needs help and reassigning as needed.”

Charge nurses are like shift leaders for a hospital or department’s team of nurses. In addition to the usual nursing duties, charge nurses have another layer of responsibilities where they oversee all the other nurses in their unit.

With this leadership position comes an expectation of knowledge and expertise. Charge nurses are the people who other nurses turn to with questions or for assistance. A good charge nurse is an indispensable resource for their department or facility.

Because of this additional responsibility and authority, charge nurses will often need additional certifications or qualifications. For instance, they may need a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) rather than just an associate’s degree in nursing (ADN). While this isn’t necessarily a universal requirement—plenty of excellent ADN-RNs have served as charge nurses—these “extra” qualifications can help show aspiring charge nurses’ commitment to growing their nursing expertise and leadership abilities.

What does a charge nurse do?

A charge nurse’s duties can vary widely depending on where they work. In large hospitals, each unit will typically have its own charge nurse. Charge nurses at these facilities will have specific duties more focused on the cardiac unit, ICU, oncology or another specialty.

In turn, these nurses need to have deep, expert knowledge about that area of nursing, as they are the person other nurses consult with questions or for advanced expertise.

On the other hand, charge nurses at smaller facilities will often have broader duties, as they may be the only charge nurse for the whole location. They need to have a broader generalist knowledge base to answer questions for a wider range of patient issues.

In general, charge nurses may find themselves training new staff, answering staff questions, setting staff patient assignments, caring for patients, covering breaks and overseeing the nursing team.

Charge nurse versus nurse manager

While the description of this job sounds quite similar to that of nurse managers—after all, they both work in supervisory positions—there are some key differences between the roles.

The biggest difference between charge nurses and nurse managers is that charge nurses spend much more of their time directly working with patients, while nurse managers typically do not work with patients unless extremely short-staffed. In turn, nurse managers focus more on administrative tasks, like scheduling, budgeting or representing nursing units in meetings with upper management. Additionally, charge nurses are typically the leaders for an individual shift of a nursing unit instead of the entire unit at all hours.

As the job title suggests, nurse managers are in charge of managing the nurses from a personnel perspective. Charge nurses are concentrated on patient care and healthcare matters. While there is certainly overlap in these areas, charge nurses are typically a rung below administrative-focused nurse managers in an organization’s hierarchy—if an issue can’t be resolved by a charge nurse, it often escalates up to nurse management.

 

What is a PICC RN?

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PICC Another job that has significant overlap with vascular access nursing is being a PICC RN. These nurses have special training to insert PICC lines into patients. As they only work with a particular type of vascular access, PICC RNs have a more specialized job than vascular access nurses. That said, vascular access nurses also insert PICC lines as part of their job.

PICC nurses—and vascular access nurses—are responsible for putting in PICC lines, which start in a vein in the patient’s arm and run through the patient’s vascular system all the way to near the patient’s heart.

These nurses have the important job of allowing the doctor to access these veins near a patient’s heart. PICC lines are used to deliver medication or nutrients as well as to draw blood (or deliver blood) if one is already inserted, and they can prevent a nurse from having to repeatedly stick a patient with needles elsewhere. These lines are often used for cancer patients, patients with digestive issues and patients with infections.

What are some of the challenges of vascular access nursing?

One obvious challenge of this job is the need to be comfortable working with needles and blood. If you’re a bit squeamish, not good around needles or afraid of blood, then this might not be the area of nursing for you. If this is you, check out our article “Medical Jobs Without Blood: A Beginner’s Guide.”

Similarly, many patients also share those fears, so the best vascular access nurses are able to comfort their patients through these procedures. Whether it’s chatting with a patient to distract them or waiting for the patient to relax, having a calming, caring demeanor and positive attitude is critical for this job.

Finally, vascular access nurses are often called on to help with patients who may present significant challenges, and getting a line properly set up can be quite difficult. Finding and accessing a vein isn’t always easy and can take several tries, much to the discomfort of the patient. Even the best vascular access nurses sometimes have to make multiple attempts. The key here is to remain sympathetic with the patient and get the job done in as few stabs as possible.

Another challenge outside of the scope of direct patient care is that this specialized role isn’t present in all facilities. While there may be exceptions, typically only larger hospitals and health systems have the resources (and consistent patient need) to keep a dedicated group of vascular access specialists on staff.

What’s rewarding about vascular access nursing?

If you’re comfortable with the needles in this job, vascular access nursing can actually be incredibly rewarding.

Being able to work hands-on with patients means you get to watch as the medications you’re delivering save lives. You are witness to the tangible results of patients’ healing and eventually checking out to go home.

Another aspect of the hands-on work in this job is informing patients how to take care of certain lines when they go home. If you like to teach others, then this can be incredibly fulfilling.

And every patient appreciates a nurse who understands their fear of needles. If you can get a patient on the first poke or chat with them to soothe their nerves, you can rest assured that they are grateful beyond measure.

Finally, this may be a bit odd for some, but getting a vein on the first poke or successfully inserting a line can be extremely rewarding—particularly if you’re called in by other nursing units to help with a tricky case. There’s a sense of pride that comes with being able to perfectly execute a task that requires specialized skill.

Is vascular access nursing the career for you?

Now that you know more about vascular access nursing, you know how important this job is—and what a difference an excellent vascular access nurse can make in a patient’s life.

If this job makes you feel a little squeamish, that’s okay. Having needles, IVs and complex lines be the central focus of your job is not for everybody. However, there are dozens of other nursing careers that could be the perfect fit.

 

Wound Care Nursing: A Wrap-up for New Nurses

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wound care If you’re not familiar with the nursing field, you might assume “wound care” is just an everyday part of the job. While it’s true many nurses are tending to minor cuts and scrapes as part of their day-to-day duties, only a small portion of nurses possess a deep, specialized skill set for treating more advanced wounds and injuries.

What many people might not realize is just how many types of wounds there are and how complex their proper treatment can be. There are penetrating wounds like a gunshot wound or an electric burn. There are pressure wounds like ulcers or bed sores, and there are blunt force trauma wounds such as skin tears. There are also closed wounds that occur within the body or underneath your skin like blisters or hematomas. You can rely on your body to heal some wounds, while others will only fester, develop an infection or worsen if left without proper treatment.

With all that and so much more to potentially contend with, you can see why wound care sometimes requires expert specialists to be done effectively. The healthcare system needs nurses with wound care expertise to help patients recover as seamlessly and comfortably as possible.

If you are curious about wound care, keep reading! We will lay out some of the most important aspects of wound care nursing you should know.

What is wound care nursing?

Wound care nursing is a subspecialty of nursing dedicated to the effective assessment and treatment of wounds.

While you might (correctly) assume these nurses tend to wounds from emergency situations, there’s also a need for this expertise when treating common chronic conditions like diabetes and the complications associated with them. Diabetes, for example, impacts over 30 million people in the U.S., and out of this population, a significant number will develop a diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) at some point.1 Without proper care, these ulcers can lead to infection and even amputation.

This also means there’s some variety in where nurses with wound care expertise work. Some spend their time working at specialized wound care clinics, others in hospital burn units, long-term care facilities or as a floating specialist nurse at hospitals.

“Wound care nurses see patients either in the hospital or in a clinical or home health setting,” says Dr. Jenna Liphart Rhoads of Nurse Together. “Wound nurses see patients regularly and provide more advanced wound care than a nurse who is not wound care certified.”

Though commonly referred to as simply “wound care” nursing, many in this role have specialized training in caring for patients with ostomies and continence issues as well.

What does a wound care nurse do?

Wound care nurses assess and treat wounds, typically wounds that take longer than two weeks to heal. They develop in-depth knowledge about skin breakdown, injury, infection and complications in both acute and chronic wounds. This specialty knowledge is especially useful for treating patients in long-term care facilities who are dealing with chronic wounds or sedentary conditions that create a high risk for pressure ulcers.

“Wound management specialists are experts in addressing the complexity of a patient’s medical diagnosis when the risk of skin injury exists and also when it occurs,” says Dr. Kathleen Thimsen, associate professor at UNLV School of Nursing. Because of this, many healthcare facilities that serve patients at risk for wounds make sure they have wound management specialists on the payroll. “Having access to a wound specialist nurse offers comprehensive evaluations coupled with comprehensive solutions.”

This arrangement can make wound care a relatively unique role, as they take on a consultative approach, guiding and educating other nurses on proper treatment and best practices when tending to wounds they may rarely encounter.

 

Family Nurse Practitioner

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nurse practitioner Family nurse practitioners typically provide generalist primary care for patients of all ages.

What do FNPs love about this specialty? The versatility of this path can provide a lot of flexibility in how you choose to shape your career.

“I often steer would-be NPs to Family first because it gives them the largest number of pivot points,” says Dr. Hamilton. “They can practice virtually anywhere, doing just about anything that involves primary care—whether with pediatrics, adults, school-aged children or geriatrics—they do it all and can work pretty much anywhere there’s a need for a primary care provider.”

With that versatility comes variety in the types of health issues you can address as an FNP.

“I love that there is so much variety as an FNP,” says Dr. D’Errico. “I care for patients and families presenting with a broad spectrum of health needs. Some of these are acutely evolving issues, like sudden-onset abdominal pain or a wound needing repair. Other problems are chronic, such as managing elevated blood pressure or diseases such as heart failure.”

What challenges should prospective FNPs know about? Simply put, they have a lot of ground to cover.

“The population focus served by the FNP is broad and complex,” says Dr. D’Errico. “The FNP must be a true generalist. This challenge, although formidable, also makes the FNP widely in demand in many health care settings.”

Dr. D’Errico emphasizes FNPs will need to do a little self-reflection when considering employment opportunities.

“Although this [versatility] is great from an employment perspective, it can be daunting as many prospective employers are not fully aware of the scope of practice of the FNP,” Dr. D’Errico says. “As such, it is incumbent upon the FNP to ensure we are only accepting employment in appropriate settings for our training, education, licensure and certification.”

Pediatric Nurse Practitioner

Pediatric nurse practitioners care for young patients (typically from birth to 21 years old) as they develop into adulthood. Pediatric NPs often subspecialize in working in either acute or primary care.

What do PNPs love about this specialty? Working with kids! They’re cute, goofy, precocious, excitable and can bring a smile to even the most stone-faced clinician.

Many pediatric NPs have long had their hearts set on working with this patient group or have had a positive experience working in pediatrics as an RN. The opportunity to pair serious work with sometimes silly, kid-friendly communication is undeniably appealing for some.

What challenges should prospective PNPs know about? Treating a pediatric patient also means you’re working closely with their families—and that can be a mixed bag. Caring for pediatric patients with chaotic or neglectful home lives can be heartbreaking, and parental beliefs or opinions can run counter to what you know is best for the patient’s health. That’s not an easy position to navigate as a healthcare provider.

Also, while this is not the “narrowest” specialty, the pediatric focus can be a limiting factor for your career options.

Neonatal Nurse Practitioner

Neonatal NPs focus on caring for newborn infants as they make the transition to life outside of the womb.

What do NNPs love about this specialty? It provides an opportunity to take a step up in responsibility in caring for infants in a critical care environment. Dr. Beth Diehl, a neonatal nurse practitioner and Rasmussen University associate professor, says her experience as a nurse in this environment helped her realize becoming an NNP was the right next step.

“I had several years of staff nurse experience and admired the degree of skill and expertise demonstrated by other neonatal NPs,” Dr. Diehl says. “They had great authority and autonomy in patient care management and routinely performed endotracheal intubations, chest tube placements, umbilical artery and vein cannulations. All very impressive stuff!”

Being able to take on a larger role when caring for ill newborns is fulfilling. You’re trusted by families during a time of crisis and helping them work through what can be incredibly challenging circumstances.

What challenges should prospective NNPs know about? Caring for critically ill infants means you’re going to see parents and families navigate some incredibly sad and challenging circumstances.

“[Often] they are grieving the loss of either a full-term pregnancy, a ‘perfect’ child or a healthy baby,” Dr. Diehl says. “Helping them navigate that course is rewarding but challenging, as well.”

A practical potential drawback of this role is that you’re typically going to be working in hospital NICU settings, which operate all day, every day, and that schedule may not appeal to everyone. Additionally, this is a narrow population focus which can limit your options if you eventually decide you want to work with a different patient population.

Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner

Women’s health nurse practitioners care for women of all ages, with a focus on reproductive, obstetric and gynecological health.

What do WHNPs love about this specialty? This specialty is often a passion pursuit. WHNPs are drawn to working with women and helping them navigate important health decisions regarding reproductive health, family planning and OB-GYN care.

This role provides an opportunity to work as a healthcare provider for a historically overlooked patient population and provide the necessary expertise for managing women’s health issues across the lifespan.

Can nurse practitioners change specializations?

The short answer is yes. But there are some important caveats to keep in mind. Depending on your starting point, you may need further education or training to safely (or legally, depending on the regulations of your state) practice in certain settings. That said, there are certainly areas of overlap among the above specializations and some changes in focus are easier to accomplish than others.

For example, a pediatric acute care NP isn’t likely to transition to a psych-mental health NP role without additional training, but a family NP can usually work in a pediatric primary care clinic. In general, it’s easier to transition from a broader population focus to a narrower focus.

Keep in mind there are also subspecialization options you may be eligible to pursue. Common subspecialty options include (but are not limited to):

  • Cardiology
  • Dermatology
  • Emergency care
  • Gastroenterology
  • Nephrology
  • Oncology

While the specifics will vary, many of these subspecialties include professional certification options that may require additional training or education to fulfill.

 

Nurse Practitioner Specializations: A Newcomer’s Guide

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Nurse practitioner It doesn’t take long for any patient who regularly interacts with a skilled nurse practitioner (NP) to acknowledge the critical role they play in healthcare. Across the country, NPs provide expert care to patients of all ages and backgrounds and are often a lifeline for underserved communities where access to quality care is limited.

Whether you’re an established registered nurse (RN) looking to move into an advanced practice role or are new to the healthcare field and exploring a potential career option, you likely have some questions about becoming a nurse practitioner.

One important and sometimes surprisingly complex subject to sort out is that of nurse practitioner specializations. In this article we’ll highlight why specialization matters, look at some of the common specialization options and answer other critical questions for you so that you can have that information before enrolling in a Nurse Practitioner program.

Why do nurse practitioners specialize?

Like physicians and other healthcare professionals, it’s common for nurse practitioners to focus their careers on working with a specific patient population or type of care. The human body—and treatments for all that potentially ail it—is an expansive and complex subject that can confound and surprise even the most experienced healthcare professionals. While all nurse practitioner programs provide strong foundations in generalist NP skills, narrowing the focus via a specialized program can help NPs who are invested in working with a specific patient population develop a deeper expertise for working with that group.

Even so, it’s still very common for NPs to pursue a specialization that leads to working with a broad patient population focus. Ultimately, the choice comes down to personal preference—some value the flexibility of a broader population, while others know that there’s a specific population that they’d prefer to work with. Either way, the specialization topic is one you’ll have to address sooner than later.

Unlike registered nurses who typically move into a specialty focus with relative ease after completing their formal education, new nurse practitioners often narrow their focus prior to (or during) their graduate studies. This means prospective NPs need to understand their options for specialization and carefully consider the potential benefits and drawbacks of each.

What are some of the most common nurse practitioner specializations?

Generally, nurse practitioners align their practice with one of six patient populations or focus areas:

  • Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner (A-GNP)
  • Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP)
  • Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP)
  • Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (PNP)
  • Neonatal Nurse Practitioner (NNP)
  • Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner (WHNP)

Among these specializations you may also find a dividing line between primary and acute care to accommodate the different skillsets and training needed to care for high- and low-acuity patients. This distinction will also have an important influence on where you can practice as an NP.

 

What are the challenges of subacute nursing?

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Subacute Because subacute nurses help patients who are managing long-term conditions, subacute care can be disheartening when patients’ conditions do not immediately improve. Additionally, with the severity of many patients’ ailments, subacute care can still be stressful, though perhaps not as intense as acute care.

On top of all of this, add the challenges of working with stressed and concerned patients and their families on a longer-term basis, and communication can be a point of friction as well. As a result, the best subacute nurses are clear and compassionate communicators.

What makes subacute nursing rewarding?

Despite these challenges, subacute nursing can also be quite rewarding. Being able to work more directly with patients on a long-term basis means you get to know them better: Their victories and healing become your triumphs too.

Additionally, while patients may not make an immediate, miraculous recovery, because they are managing serious health problems, any improvements along the way are significant successes. As the nurse, you can take heart knowing you helped your patients as they manage long-term ailments.

Traits of subacute nurses

In addition to being solid communicators, subacute nurses need to stay calm under pressure. Even though the job isn’t as stressful as acute nursing, the position still has its share of pressures, just like most jobs in the healthcare field. For instance, managing your time and patient load can be tricky—many patients still have time-intensive care needs, but subacute nurses will likely have a higher number of patients under their care than, say, an ICU nurse.

Along with staying calm during times when you’re being pulled in multiple directions by patient needs, subacute nurses need to keep organized and clear-headed. Recordkeeping is an important aspect of this job that ensures patients get the medication, treatment and care they need.

Finally, subacute nurses need to be able to work with others in a team setting. Whether it’s with other nurses, doctors, rehabilitative specialists or even patients, subacute nurses have to be able to communicate and collaborate with a variety of professionals and people throughout the patient’s care plan.

Is subacute nursing the career path for you?

Subacute nursing bridges the gap between acute and chronic care, providing inpatient care for people with serious ailments. Working in this field offers a variety of places to work, whether you’re drawn to a hospital setting or not. And like all types of nursing, it can make a tangible difference in people’s lives.

If subacute care sounds like the perfect mix of challenge and reward, then a career in this type of nursing could be for you. As you look forward to what this job holds, one qualification you’ll need is being a registered nurse (RN).

 

What Is a Case Management Nurse? Your Guide to These Helpful Healthcare Pros

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case management nurse Once you’ve set your aim toward being a nurse, there’s a world of possibilities for where your career could take you. With all the different types of nursing specialties and the niche types of care provided, it can be tough to keep it all straight—and you’re not the only one who might feel this way.

Patients, too, can feel overwhelmed as they enter a whirlwind of healthcare specialists and recommendations. Luckily, there’s a type of nursing focused on helping patients find what they need through the whole healthcare process. This nursing specialty is called case management nursing.

By being a case management nurse, you get to help patients through their journey to health and have a fulfilling career in the healthcare field. But what exactly is case management nursing? And what does the nurse case manager job look like?

What is case management nursing?

Case management nurses work with patients who often have complex medical needs through all the stages of their treatment. Typically, these patients are dealing with long-term chronic illnesses, have geriatric conditions or are recovering from serious injuries. As a patient enters the healthcare system, case management nurses assist patients as they navigate through initial evaluations and determining available options for treatment. Their job is to empower patients with information on what their possibilities are for care.

These nurses also assist the patient with information on costs and insurance coverage, advocating for the patient through the process, especially when it comes to ways to reduce costs. And they can help connect patients with care options and support.

Finally, case management nurses coordinate and oversee the patient’s care to ensure they are getting the attention and assistance they need. Often, their patient care expertise is used to help connect the dots for those on the administrative and payment side. For example, a patient’s individual specialist visit may look extraneous to insurers without the full context of the patient’s case—and that’s not always easy to glean from medical records and billing statements.

As Nancy Mitchell, a registered nurse and contributing writer at Assisted Living Center, says, “Regardless of the circumstances, the most important part of the role is to account for the patient’s emotional and physical well-being and to lobby for their rights when social services are involved.”

Who do case management nurses work with?

Because case management nurses are involved in many stages of patient care and connect patients with resources, they will work alongside a wide variety of other professionals, whether that be doctors, other nurses, rehabilitation specialists, hospital staff or even insurance providers. In addition to working with the patient, they may also work closely with the patient’s caregiver.

For instance, Mitchell says in her role as a case management nurse, she worked with patients’ primary care physicians, other nurses and some specialists. There’s no cookie-cutter formula, though—the overlap with other healthcare professionals depends entirely on the needs of the patient.

Where do case management nurses work?

Given the broad range of care specialists these nursing professionals interact with, it’s understandable if you’re wondering who employs them and where they physically set up shop, so to speak.

In practice, you’ll find case management nurses working in a wide variety of settings. Most nurses in this specialty don’t actually work at a hospital. Instead, many work for insurance companies, for workers’ compensation organizations or in home healthcare.

That being said, many case management nurses still work in hospitals. All this means is that there’s a lot of variety for where you could work as a case management nurse. Whether hospitals are where you want to spend your time, you may have options as a case management nurse.

What makes case management nursing unique?

Aside from the different places case management nurses can work, this job is also unique because of its broad, comprehensive focus. Rather than specializing in a certain subfield in healthcare like cardiology, these nurses care for patients throughout their whole time moving toward wellness. In this way, they also work more closely with a patient over a longer period of time, rather than a position like an ER nurse, who may only see a patient once when they enter the hospital system.

 

What Is Subacute Care? Exploring This Nursing Specialty

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Subacute care You’ve probably heard of emergency care or urgent care, but have you heard of subacute care? This nursing specialty occupies the space between acute and chronic care, and it allows nurses to come alongside patients on their journey to recovery while working in a lower-stress environment than you may find in acute care.

If you haven’t heard of subacute care before or you’re not sure what falls between acute and chronic care, you’re not alone, even if you’re exploring potential careers in nursing. However, this relatively new level of care, despite its lack of fame, plays a critical role in serving patients in an inpatient setting.

So what is subacute nursing? Where can you find subacute nurses working, and what can you expect working in this unique nursing specialty?

What is subacute care?

To understand subacute care, it’s helpful to use acute care as a frame of reference. Acute care is inpatient care for critical medical problems. Places like intensive care units and cardiology units are examples of acute care.

Subacute care then is similar to acute care but is not for people with as time-critical of illnesses or injuries. It’s an inpatient care level between a nursing home or assisted living and acute care, and it is for people who have an acute issue, whether that be illness, injury or disease. For example, after someone is hospitalized for an acute problem, they may be moved to subacute care.

If you need intensive wound care or IV treatment, have GI tube issues or are recovering from a major stroke or malnutrition you could find yourself in a subacute care unit.

Where is subacute care provided?

Even though subacute is a newer approach to care, it’s growing quickly. Since many people go to subacute care after acute care, hospitals are one place you’ll find subacute care units. However, you’ll also find nursing facilities and recovery units at surgery centers with subacute care. Subacute care can even be delivered at a patient’s home, under the right circumstances.

All these locations mean that nurses interested in subacute care have a variety of locations to choose from when job scouting. If hospitals are not your favorite place—and you’re not alone with this opinion—then perhaps working in a surgery center is for you. On the other hand, if you’re interested in working with senior citizens, then maybe working in a nursing facility for the elderly is the perfect environment.

What makes subacute nursing unique?

Unlike acute care, subacute care does not treat people with critical medical problems. Instead, it focuses on ailments that are just below this level. The medical problems are serious, but there’s not as much rushing around and time-sensitive, urgent tasks involved in this specialty. This makes this a great middle ground for nurses who may be interested in focusing on care that goes beyond routine outpatient check-ups but might be wary of the high-intensity demands of working in certain acute care units.

And unlike many other types of care, subacute care is in an inpatient setting, which means the nurses get to work with patients for more than one brief visit. This means that subacute nurses can develop a reputation and relationship with their patients rather than have an impersonal one-time meeting.

 

What are common job titles for public health nurses?

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public health With such a variety of workplace options, it’s no surprise that there are many job titles associated with public health nursing. We’ve rounded up some of the most common job titles you’ll find in this field to give you an idea of what your options are in a public health nursing career.

Public health educators provide health and wellness information to a particular population. For example, they may hold a workshop about simple steps to lower blood pressure or an “ask anything” session for new parents with questions about vaccinations. These public health nurses need to stay creative as they develop new, relevant ways to communicate health information to their communities.

Occupational health nurses address health problems related to the workplace. This includes worker safety regarding things like proper techniques for lifting heavy items or taking safety precautions around dangerous chemicals. These nurses educate workers and employers, inspect workplaces to identify hazards and develop programs that support good physical and mental health in the workplace.

Environmental health nurses are tasked with finding environmental hazards in an area that can affect the well-being of the communities nearby. This could include risks like air or water pollution, climate change and toxic substances. Environmental health RNs work with local and state governments to fix the problem and educate the public about protecting their health.

Public health researchers aim to grow the body of clinical knowledge by developing and assisting with clinical trials and other forms of research. Their work can directly improve public health initiatives—for example, by helping to develop a new treatment for an infectious disease. Public health researchers typically work for private foundations or government health agencies.

Epidemiologists learn about infectious diseases, track infection patterns and plan for ways to treat and prevent outbreaks. They typically work with government public health agencies, conducting research to influence public health policies and keep communities safe.

What level of education is needed for public health nurses?

Public health nurses have a lot of options available to them at different levels of education. The first step for all public health nurses is to become a registered nurse. This requires an aspiring RN to graduate from nursing school, complete clinical requirements and pass the NCLEX-RN exam.

RNs who hold a Bachelor’s degree are eligible for most entry-level public nursing positions. More advanced positions, such as those related to research and epidemiology, typically require a Master’s degree in nursing (MSN) or public health (MPH). Many public health nurses begin their careers with a BSN then obtain a higher degree down the road if they want to pursue a more advanced public health role.

In some states, public health nurses may need to register to be able to use the designation PHN along with RN. There are also a variety of specialty certifications public health RNs can earn. For example, there’s the Certified in Public Health (CPH) exam and the Certified Occupational Health Nurse (COHN) credential. Although these certifications aren’t always required, they show your level of commitment to and expertise in the field and can make a good impression on employers.

Public health RNs: Keeping communities healthy

What is a public health nurse? Now you know that these RNs have an important role in keeping communities and at-risk populations healthy. They’re the invisible superheroes of the healthcare field, preventing problems before they start and saving the day when emergencies arise.

 

What Is a Clinical Informatics Nurse? Exploring This Data-Driven Nursing Niche

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Clinical informatics Most people who gravitate towards the nursing profession truly want to make a positive impact in the world. They believe in care and compassion, and they believe in saving lives. Nurses traditionally do this by working in a hospital or a clinic, seeing patients, administering care and fighting against injury and disease person by person.

Some nurses look around at the healthcare system and see barriers in the workflow and ways providers, hospitals, clinics and more could better serve their patients. These nurses look at the big picture of patient outcomes and think: There must be a better way to do this.

Many advanced-level nursing roles involve management or administration. Nursing informatics is all about driving innovation via technology. In the same way that business or tech companies push themselves toward more data-driven insights and decisions, healthcare is also working to utilize data and technology to improve.

Clinical informatics nurses stand on the threshold of healthcare experience and technological expertise. This cross-disciplinary role allows clinical informatics nurses to make impacts that can ripple through an entire healthcare system. With the current state of healthcare, one thing is clear—we need professionals like clinical informatics nurses to help create meaningful advancements.

What is clinical informatics in nursing?

The key word to understanding this field is data. Information has never been as abundant in healthcare as it is today. With current technology, we can record and track massive amounts of patient data—as well as what providers are doing, what tools they use and what systems and workflows each facility has. All that data holds potential revelations that could save many lives going forward, but it requires professionals who know how to make use of that information.

Clinical informatics is the field of utilizing technology and data to discover trends and create improvements to healthcare in a clinical setting. For nursing, clinical informatics covers a huge swath of health topics.

The clinical information that nurse informaticists gather allows data science, machine learning and AI techniques to be used to identify trends and drive efficiencies.

Clinical informatics in nursing also includes analysis and innovation in how nurses learn, teach and provide care, along with larger health system concerns like EHR (electronic health records) systems, patient safety, and really, any implementation of technology that can improve patient outcomes and experiences in the healthcare environment.

Informatics offers fascinating career pathways, and it has the power to make significant changes in healthcare as we know it.

What does a clinical informatics nurse do?

Clinical informatics nurses, also called just informatics nurses, analyze nursing technology applications. They often work on EHR systems and patient classification systems as well as assessment and workflow tools. They use their practical knowledge of how nurses and healthcare professionals operate and apply it to these technical systems—think of it as being a subject matter expert who helps bridge the gap between IT teams and the healthcare providers using these systems.

Their work can include making sure information is standardized between platforms, looking for gaps or problems in workflow, enhancing each technology and sometimes assisting with the creation of new tools if needed.

Really, nursing informatics is a perfect career for people who have experience in nursing but also love technology. That particular blend of interest and expertise can create professionals who adapt and develop nursing-specific technology like no one else could.

This field usually involves lots of collaboration with other teams, such as nursing administration, healthcare system staff, pharmacists and any prospective users of the various technologies. But clinical informatics is more of a subject area than a specific job title. There are quite a few different types of clinical informatics nursing jobs out there. For more details on that, check out Nursing Informatics Jobs: What Nurses Should Know.