Different Types of Nursing Careers

Video Transcript

"Hello, my name is Doctor David Cathcart and I'm from Heartland Regional Medical Center in St. Joseph, Missouri. I am board certified in family practice, and I am board eligible in occupational medicine. There are many types of nursing careers that are available out there, and, one might think that just because you're a nurse, that that's pretty much...that they all do the same thing. But, in fact, that couldn't be farther from the truth. First of all, the typical nurse that we think of is an RN or perhaps an LPN. That's the kind of person who comes in and takes your blood pressure, or maybe gives you a shot, or...or will treat you at the bedside while you're in the hospital. The person that takes care of your daily needs while you're in the hospital, for example. But then there's management nurses, the nurses that go into nursing management careers, or nurses who will run departments, such as a cardiology department or a cardiac rehab department. There are nurses who become...who get master's degrees in nursing, and then will actually be what is referred to as an advanced practice nurse, or essentially a nurse practitioner, and they'll function very much like a doctor does. So they can diagnose and treat within certain perimeters. Then there is other kinds of nurses that are referred to as actually nursing assistants, and they require much less level of education, but none the less, they're very critical to the daily...to the daily activities of medical treatment. Thanks for taking this time to explore medical careers with me. Again, I'm Doctor David Cathcart with Heartland Regional Medical Center in St. Joseph, Missouri."