Do you want to become a nurse? What a fantastic career choice. You’re going to make an impact on so many lives. The beauty of this profession is that there are so many different types of nursing jobs you can pursue. Whether your passion lies in helping the elderly, cancer patients or newborn babies, there’s a specific place for you in the world of nursing.
Knowing your options in nursing and your ideal role in healthcare early on in your studies and career is one way to help you focus on your future. Knowing what you want your future job to be helps you set a goal and builds determination and resilience.
In this article, you’ll find a list of seven different types of nursing jobs in Australia so you can have a better idea of where you want to be in the future.
Table of Contents
1. Registered Nurse (RN)
Do you want to be able to work in many areas within the healthcare system? You’ll need to become a registered nurse. Nurses who register with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) are what we call registered nurses.
Registered nurses typically don’t require supervision but are actually responsible for the supervision of junior registered nurses and enrolled nurses. A few other responsibilities you’d expect as a registered nurse include assessing patients, administering their medication, creating thorough nursing care plans, providing specialised care to patients and managing and leading nursing units.
2. Aged Care Nurse
For those who love working with elderly patients, you should consider becoming an aged care nurse. Aged care nurses are based in long-term care facilities like nursing homes and work closely with other healthcare workers to care for elderly patients.
Some of the responsibilities you’d take on as an aged care nurse will include administering medications, assisting seniors with their daily activities, helping maintain patients’ dignity and independence and providing emotional support to patients and their families.
3. Midwife
There’s nothing quite like helping bring a new life into the world, and if this is where your passion lies, then you’ll love being a midwife. Midwifery nurses are healthcare professionals who specialise in caring for and supporting pregnant women throughout their pregnancy, labour and childbirth. Midwives usually work in birthing centres, hospitals and private practices.
A midwife’s responsibilities can include assisting doctors with and conducting prenatal exams, conducting parenting classes, monitoring the progress of mothers and their babies during labour, as well as providing emotional support to patients throughout pregnancy and childbirth, to name a few.
4. Paediatric Nurse
Providing care to kids can be one of the most rewarding and heartwarming jobs on the planet. If working with kids in healthcare sounds like a dream come true, then becoming a paediatric nurse is the path to follow. Paediatric nurses work alongside paediatricians and child psychologists to provide comprehensive care to infants, children and adolescents. These nurses will find jobs in clinics, hospitals and other healthcare settings where kids are involved.
A few of the responsibilities you would need to take on as a paediatric nurse generally include conducting physical exams on infants, children and teens, providing education to kids and their families and administering medication.
5. Emergency Nurse
Do you thrive and manage to keep your composure under pressure? Maybe you’d be the perfect fit for the emergency ward as an emergency nurse. Emergency nurses work closely with other healthcare professionals, emergency physicians, and paramedics in emergency departments and ambulance services.
You will attend to patients in emergency situations, and your responsibilities may include but are not limited to assessing and prioritising your patients’ needs in critical condition, administering medications and providing life-saving interventions, like defibrillation and CPR.
6. Mental Health Nurse
The human mind is very intriguing, and if you’re the kind of person who wants to dedicate your time, skills and effort to help people manage mental conditions, you should definitely consider becoming a mental health nurse. As a mental health nurse, you’ll be able to help people suffering from conditions like depression, bipolar and anxiety.
Mental health nurses specialise in providing support and care to patients with mental health conditions. In this position, you’ll work closely alongside social workers, psychologists, and psychiatrists, and they generally work in clinics, community mental health organisations, and hospitals.
As a mental health nurse, your main responsibilities will include helping assess patients’ mental health, providing counselling and administering medication.
7. Oncology Nurse
Cancer is a scary and heartbreaking disease. So, many patients who are faced with this dreaded diagnosis will need kind, compassionate and professional nurses who have specialised in providing the necessary care and support for cancer. If helping people through cancer treatment is your passion, then consider becoming an oncology nurse. Oncology nurses work with healthcare workers like oncologists in hospitals and clinics to help treat patients with cancer.
As an oncology nurse, your responsibilities may include helping to administer chemotherapy treatments, monitoring patients’ vital signs, helping manage symptoms and side effects and providing emotional support to cancer patients and their loved ones.
Final Thoughts
Pursuing these jobs in nursing requires you to study further and earn by enrolling in a postgraduate course. When you get your master’s degree, it shows potential employers that you are the kind of nurse who is dedicated to the profession. Believe us, it will help give you a definite advantage when applying for senior and managerial positions. Progress your nursing career with a master’s degree in nursing, and you’ll be well on your way to achieving your goals.
