Head nursing
For this job you need a Master's degree in an area of specialty and at least 15 years of experience.
The job requires good nursing experience including overall planning, personnel supervision and ability to take policy decisions. It gives you high salary. The position is more of an executive type and many hospitals insist on a Master's degree in nursing. They give more weight to MBAs. Hands-on nursing experience is needed to explain to the top management the needs of the nursing staff. The head of nursing also called chief nursing officer or chief nursing executive is the senior nurse management position in a hospital.
Nurse anesthetist
This job needs Master's degree and certification.
It is the highest paid job in the nursing specialist category -- Certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs). In addition to a four-year nursing or science degree, CRNAs must be licensed RNs. One year experience in an acute-care setting is a must. After this they are required to do a two-year anesthesia education program before passing the certification examination. They are needed wherever anesthesia is administered, such as surgical suites, dentist offices, and plastic surgery centers. Chief anesthetists, who are involved in managing, scheduling and training staff anesthetists, earn $ 10,000 to $ 20,000 per annum in addition to their salary.
Nursing director
This post requires RN, advanced degree in nursing. Nursing director's duties include budgeting, policy making, and scheduling, besides overseeing all aspects of nursing staff. He or she is a liaison between the staff and hospital administration. Nursing director is also called nursing supervisor. Usually nursing directors come from the ranks; they should have people skill, project management abilities, and leadership qualities. A nursing director is usually the nursing program administrator, making policies and setting performing standards.
Certified nurse midwife
The post requires RN program and midwifery program for either certification or Master's degree such as a master of science in nursing.
Certified nurse midwives (CNMs) attend about 300,000 births a year at either hospitals or homes, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Besides delivering babies, they involve in caring female patients, family planning education, gynecological exams, and prenatal and postnatal care. In hospitals, they often work with OB/GYNs.
Nurse practitioner
A Master's degree and certification as a Certified Registered Nurse Practitioner (CRNP) in a specialty area are need for this post.
In most of the states, nurse practitioners (NPs) work along with physicians. About a dozen states allow NPs to set up their own clinic and another dozen states or so insist on NPs to work under the supervision of a physician. NPs give a wide range of health services such as family practice, women's health or pediatrics in hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes. In some states, NPs diagnose and treat acute illnesses, injuries and infectious diseases.
Emergency and pediatric NPs get the highest pay packets.
Head nurse
To be a head nurse one should have RN with a minimum of five years experience.
In ICU, CCU, OR, ER or obstetrics department, if there is more than one nurse, there should be a head nurse. Besides directly dealing with patients, a head nurse is required to maintain patient records and performance reports. She is also expected to be in charge of the inventory of the nursing department.
Clinical nurse specialist
The post requires a Master's degree with at least five years of experience.
If you are interested in scholarly research, complex calculations and data analysis and evaluation, you can go for the job of a clinical nurse specialist (CNS). Besides diagnosing and treating patients, CNSes assess hospital procedures, processes and personnel.
