Nurses are health care professionals focused on the care of individuals, families and communities so they may attain, maintain and/or recover optimal health and quality of life. They are an important component in the health sectors to deliver the basic health care services to the people. Nursing as a profession is very in demand as our population increases and patient care is needed. With the demand of nurses or any profession in medicine, comes the specialization. It is important to know the different types of nurses so if you are interested to become one or specialized in a certain field you may have the idea on which one to choose. Here are some of the types of nurses and its short description…
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Medical and Surgical Nurse
They are the ones carry out all the nurse duties assigned as an assistant to any physicians or surgeons. Duties include dressing, following up on diets, checking on treatments and other jobs of similar nature. A very important part of the medical and surgical nurse duties is the documentation.
Neurology Nurse
They are basically the ones who assist neurologists. They deal with patients who have diseases or disorders relating to the brain or/and the nervous system as such. It is very important duty for these nurses to have complete knowledge of the brain and nervous system and they should also be able to tap the correct progress of any patient.
Nursery Nurse
They are the ones who do not work in hospitals or health institutions but assist other teachers to develop and educate children properly. These children usually belong to the pre-primary, primary and nursery levels.
Obstetricians and Gynecology Nurse
They are the ones who assist the obstetricians and gynecologists in their works related to mostly the reproductive system. They are also responsible for not only assisting but their duties include taking samples and working on clinical tests.
Cardiac Nurse
Cardiac nurses are those who take care of patients who are in need to be treated for cardiovascular ailments. They can be dealing with congestive heart failure and cardiomyopathy. As part of their duties, they assist and also responsible in a way for proper implantation of defibrillators and pacemakers.
Cardiothoracic Nurse
They are the nurses who are involved in illness and diseases pertaining to the heart and lungs. At the same time, they also perform laboratory examinations for patients suffering from these and prescribe necessary medications. The areas of their operation include heart blockages and disease, lung cancer, angina and pulmonary diseases.
Hemodialysis Nurse
They are the ones who deal in kidney failures. Their duties include assisting their patients in such circumstances with the help of dialysis treatments. They are also part of educating their patients on what to do and what not to do during dialysis. Their certification is known as CHN, stands for Certified Hemodialysis Nurse.
Labor and Delivery Nurse
They are basically the ones who are responsible of taking care of an expecting mother right from her labor to after she has delivered the baby. They are also responsible in making the mother in labor feel comfortable, guiding her through the entire delivery and taking care of her and her newborn until discharged. These nurses are specialized in handling emergencies during the course of labor and delivery.
Orthopedic Nurse
These are nurses who assist these physicians while they treat patients who have injuries, ligaments tears, muscle pulls, fractures, among other as such. Part of the responsibilities is also the everyday dressing and checking if it has been done properly. Orthopedic nurses’ duties also include administering of medicines and for inserting IVs. They are the ones who ensure and take care that the affected bones heal well and the movements are back to normal.
Oncology Nurse
They are the nurses who work under cancer specialists. Their duties include carrying out the various healing treatments that cancer patients have to go through. Aside from the actual treating, they also have to explain the various treatment options available to each patient.
Pediatric Nurse
They are those who deal with the young population, aged 0 to about 15-16 years. They make sure that the child has taken all the vaccinations, as well as maintain and check their records. Part of the job also includes the matters of hygiene and complete health will be explained to the children and families. As the title requires, they need to be very good at diagnosing children and look for any changes as this is the age when children grow very fast.
Psychiatric Nurse
They are the ones who take care of patients suffering from major depressive disorder, schizophrenia, substance addiction, dementia, bipolar disorder, among other of the same nature. They basically work in mental facilities and institutions of the same. Parts of their duties include taking care of everyday activities of patients suffering from the above mentioned diseases or rather disorders. Of course, they also help the patient to improve his condition by ways of counseling along with the prescribed treatment.
Respiratory Nurse
These nurses have duties concerning the respiratory system of humans and concerns which are relating to the lungs. They are responsible for treatments that deal with normal breathing techniques to assistance in surgeries relating to proper breathing during other operations. They have a really important job given their role in keeping the respiratory system working.
These are types of Floor Nurses or those assigned in non-ICU (intensive care unit) hospitals. They are the ones who do not work with the most critically ill patients (critical care nurses).
