Careers in nursing offer a changing landscape of which you need to stay on top of to remain competitive as you pursue nursing employment opportunities. While you can watch the nursing job boards for recent openings and stay abreast of the nurse employment situation in various locations, you’ve got to read and keep up with the nurse jobs news and trends even when you currently are not looking for new nursing employment.

Nursing jobs become available at certain times and you have to be ready to take advantage of a nursing job when it appears. By reading industry newsletters and online publications, as well as blogs and other industry communications, you’ll stay on the alert for the nursing careers that are changing and evolving so that you can be ready to jump on good nursing employment opportunities. Protect your career in a number of ways by keeping up with nursing jobs news and trends.

1. Participate in nursing job boards

2. Read about employment in nursing

3. Follow nurse employment trends

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Take part in nursing employment blogs

Whenever you have the opportunity to chat online with other nursing professionals, make sure to indicate if you are interested in careers in nursing. Often, you can sort through the gossip and find gems that will assist you in your nurse jobs search. Look for nursing job boards that offer response opportunities.

I recommend: Find out about job openings and current informational articles that affect the industry from International Nurses Recruitment, a traveling nurses agency. Join a blog and communicate with others interested in nursing issues, as well as find nursing job openings, training options and other relevant news at My Nursing Degree.

Keep the lines of information open with employment in nursing websites

If you are looking to advance your career in nursing or need to fill nursing jobs, you should stay tuned in to the latest news and trends that you'll find on the websites of nursing recruiters and through the advice columns that are often part of the nursing job listings.

I recommend: Find a ton of information about nursing careers and the news and trends affecting the profession at DiscoverNursing.com. Nurse.com is another site that is plentiful with job listings, educational and training ideas as well as articles and links to important news and trends in nursing.

Subscribe to nursing careers publications

Whether you participate in a trade group or are relying on recruiters to help you find lists of nursing jobs, you should take responsibility for educating yourself and creating your own avenues for creating a career network. By reading the nursing employment listings and watching the nursing job boards, you can stay on top of the emerging trends affecting the banking industry.

I recommend: The Nursing Job Source offers a wealth of information on top of job boards and job requirement information for nurses looking to advance their careers in nursing. Nurse Connect is a popular place for nurses to connect and stay in touch with the news and trends affecting the industry. You’ll find job listings there as well.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  To get other perspectives, you can always start a new stream of communication on public and social networks such as Monster and Facebook where you look for others who want to blog about nursing jobs news and trends.

The number of nursing jobs is expected to rise steadily in the years ahead as the population ages and greater stress is placed on the health-care system. The demand for quality nurses is high and will continue to be so for students, especially those willing to relocate.

Nursing job salaries vary according to geographic area and the size of the facility, but it’s not unusual for beginning Registered Nurses to earn a salary that will provide a comfortable standard of living, with additional income realized for evening, night and weekend work.

Benefit packages in nursing careers can include:

1. Health insurance;
2. Flexible scheduling for nurse jobs;
3. College tuition reimbursement;
4. Child care at nurse employment sites

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Find nurse jobs by speciality

From the cradle to the grave, nurses affect lives. A pediatric nurse may enjoy babies but not the hectic pace of the emergency room. An emergency room nurse may thrive on the hectic pace there but may not enjoy handling delicate preemies. Among specialty areas from which nurses can choose are pediatrics, gerontology, rehabilitation, psychiatric nursing, emergency room and operating room, to name a few. Each field has specialized training.

I recommend: The Nursing Schools website lists universities with nursing programs in your state. The search engine also contains links to take you to the websites of nursing schools and their programs. Search by program at All Nursing Schools to find the preferred course of study for a career in nursing within the state.

Visualize nursing jobs beyond the traditional setting

While the image of careers in nursing primarily comes from hospitals, other practice settings exist. Nurses are needed in home care, schools, corporations, hospice, public health, and health and wellness centers. Other possibilities are military service, clinics and extended care centers.

I recommend: Search nursing job boards such as Nursingjobs.org for nursing job openings by geographic area. Check out Medhunters to search for jobs in various medical professions.

Follow imaginative paths in careers in nursing

Beyond the traditional nursing jobs as the doctor's assistant, today's nurses have forged new paths. Nurses have entered the fields of journalism, law, informatics, teaching, and business and marketing. Through their efforts, they write and publish, influence legislation, participate on boards of directors, change health care delivery systems, and educate about disease prevention and health promotion.

I recommend: The American Nursing Informatics Association provides networking, education and information resources for specialists who work with computers to support or automate nursing care and documentation. The American Association of Nurse Attorneys provides support for those doubling in careers in nursing and law.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Be aware that each college or university tends to have a particular focus or emphasis, even though several programs may be offered. Seek the education that fits you and network with professional organizations in the field in which you wish to specialize, and post resumes on online nursing job boards.

Nursing employment opportunities abound for people with the right credentials. While entry-level nurse jobs are prolific, the better paying jobs in nursing require medical knowledge that only comes from training and experience. To pursue careers in nursing, you should accumulate as many certificates and degrees as you can, from masters degrees to administration certifications. Nursing employment opportunities will continue to flourish for those who bring a multitude of skills to the job.

Look for nurse employment listings through online nursing job boards that offer training opportunities and through contacts and connections you can make in the industry. Nursing job recruiters can be helpful for some, but you need to complement your resume with certificates and degrees to you to find the best careers in nursing. There are a number of avenues you should pursue as you continually upgrade your training for nursing jobs.

1. Peruse online lists of nursing jobs for training options

2. Find nursing employment opportunities and training through trade groups

3. Look for advanced degrees and certificates through nursing employment sites

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Watch for jobs and training in nursing listings online

Take the time to regularly watch the nursing job boards, as you look for opportunities online to advance your career. You'll find a number of online nursing training programs that will be most helpful in your search for employment in nursing. Check out the requirements and look for training to make you more suitable for the position you seek.

I recommend: Earn My Degree offers a number of links to university programs for nursing degrees. Find niche nursing courses to advance your degree as well as job boards and other educational and professional resources through the website portal The Forensic Nurse.

Look for nursing employment listings and training through associations

While you are pursuing nursing employment opportunities you should also be accruing a list of connections that will help you throughout your career. Trade associations are great places to get involved with medical professionals and administrators and make those important contacts. At the same time, most associations offer a wide variety of professional development courses that will look good on your resume.

I recommend: The American Nurses Association is a great place to network while getting higher credentials and continuing your professional development. The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners is another great group that offers professional development and credentialing courses for nurses.

Enroll in nursing employment and training courses

While you must receive degrees in order to practice the various levels of nursing, other programs are available that can help you advance to better careers in nursing. You can use an agency to help you find those positions once you've achieved the higher levels of education and training.

I recommend: Nursing Link is a great information portal that links you to various educational programs and provides a lot of information about the various specialties you can aspire to learn. Med Hunters can provide nursing employment listings as well as links to certification boards that you should be looking into to further your career.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Check with your current employer to see about getting additional training in alternative nursing careers. You may also find a better job in the same facility after completing additional certification courses.

The world of nursing has many different jobs and titles, which newcomers may find confusing. If you are considering a career in nursing, you should understand the different types of nursing in order to choose the best path of study. Some types of nurses, such as a nurse practitioner or a certified nurse midwife, require additional training. However, with basic training, you can become a registered nurse. Remember, too, that nurses can also specialize in different fields, such as pediatrics or geriatrics.

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Registered nurse (RN)

Registered nurses, or RNs, are trained to help patients in their care. They can educate patients and family members about a particular disease and also provide care for the patients. They also administer medicines. RNs may provide a more supervisory role, and the job requires more education than a licensed practical nurse.

I recommend: Learn more about the job duties, required training and work conditions from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Licensed practical nurse (LPN)

Licensed practical nurses, also called licensed vocational nurses, often provide more direct care to patients than RNs. They have slightly less training than RNs, but can still administer medication and take care of patients' basic medical concerns.

I recommend: You can read more about LPNs through the Health Careers Center.

American Nurses Association (ANA)

The American Nurses Association is the professional organization that oversees nurses. The organization helps to promote nurses' rights.

I recommend: Visit the American Nurses Association to learn more about what they do.

Nurse practitioner (NP)

A nurse practitioner has at least a master's degree and has received additional training in dealing with disease diagnosis. Nurse practitioners may work closely with doctors in a practice and can see patients and prescribe medicine.

I recommend: The Women's Health Channel provides more detailed information about nurse practitioners.

Certified nurse midwife (CNM)

A certified nurse midwife has special training to take care of women's health, particularly as it relates to pregnancy and childbirth. They must study in an accredited program and receive certification from the American College of Nurse-Midwives.

I recommend: BabyCenter offers information about certified nurse midwives and how to choose one.

Nurse anesthetists (CRNA)

Certified registered nurse anesthetists have received special training that allows them to administer anesthesia to patients. They may work with surgeons, doctors or dentists.

I recommend: The American Association of Nurse Anesthetists has a thorough description of CRNAs.