Nurses looking for a job don’t have to search hard these days. While staffing within the healthcare system has improved marginally since Covid, most hospitals throughout the country still need extra help.
Where previously, a new nurse might need to consider looking for work at hospitals far from their hometowns, now many can pick where they work.
That said, some nursing careers are in particularly high demand. Positions that consistently need filling at hospitals and clinics all over the country. In this article, we take a look at nursing careers with quick job market entry.
Psychiatric Nursing
Most communities are in dire need of psychiatric health professionals. These workers perform responsibilities that include but are not limited to, working with people who require constant in-patient psychiatric care.
However, psychiatric nurses have many responsibilities that fall outside of what many people think of when they imagine mental health services. For example, addiction counseling generally falls under the umbrella of psychiatric care.
It’s not an easy line of work. Psychiatric nurses experience high rates of violence and abuse at the hands of their patients. They also work in a field in which progress is not always apparent—or even possible.
Many patients receiving psychiatric care services are not in a position to “get better.” Their conditions are such that symptom management is sometimes the primary goal. This can be challenging for psychiatric nurses, who rarely get to experience the “wins” that uplift other healthcare professionals.
Still, it is meaningful work. People considering a career in psychiatric nursing will have many options when they are ready to enter the job market.
Forensic Nursing
Forensic nurses work primarily with victims of violent crimes. They are usually the professionals who administer care to victims of sexual assault. Their responsibilities are unique in that their job is both to treat the patient and collect evidence that will be usable and admissible in court.
The work is naturally very sensitive. Not only do they interact with people during the most difficult moments of their lives, but they are often called into court to testify, either as a general expert, or specifically in cases where they administered care to the victim.
To become a forensic nurse, you must first acquire several hundred hours of clinical experience, and pass state-required testing.
Gerontology
Gerontology care providers work with aging adults, usually 65 or older. Patients that fall into this care category are not necessarily dying, but they have also reached a point where their health is never going to substantially improve.
The focus of gerontology caregivers is mostly to maximize their patient’s quality of life. Often, these nurses will work with a small group of patients, providing highly personalized care. Sometimes, this care is provided at home. Other times, it takes place in the hospital or nursing home setting.
Because these care scenarios are often long-term and sometimes in intimate locations, many gerontology nurses become close with their patients in a way that is not necessarily common in the hospital setting.
This makes the work rewarding, but also difficult. It’s hard to watch someone you have come to care about decline.
Gerontology nurses often deal more extensively with their patient’s family members—a challenge in its own right—and are forced to confront the realities of death and infirmity in a way that can be difficult.
Where a nurse working in the hospital setting may be able to assuage their fear by thinking, “Yes, what these patients are going through is difficult, but I may never get cancer,” gerontology nurses have no such luxury.
Their patients struggle with health conditions that are waiting for virtually everyone who reaches a certain age.
Though these factors make the work challenging, gerontology care is a rewarding career path for the right person.
It’s Not Only the Hard Jobs
Many of the suggestions on this list are in high demand because they are difficult. It takes a special kind of person to choose care fields that involve working with victims of violence, or patients who will never noticeably improve.
If these jobs don’t appeal to you, that is ok. There are many quick-entry routes for nurses who want to work in a standard hospital environment. For example:
- Consider working at a rural hospital or clinic: Rural healthcare centers are rarely adequately staffed. This owes largely to the fact that they service counties with small populations. A town of six thousand people in it may go years without producing a nurse. This means that rural hospitals usually need to hire transplants—people willing to move for work. If that’s you, you’ll find that there are opportunities all over the country.
- Think about travel nursing: Travel nurses also go to high-need hospitals. Often, this will mean working in a rural setting. The key difference is that a travel nurse never stays at one job for very long. They are pinch hitters, stepping in to help out at hospitals that are short-staffed, and then moving on. Often, these placements last less than a year.
Both of these jobs can be challenging. Not everyone is willing to move for work, and the nomadic lifestyle of a travel nurse can feel particularly lonely. There is not much of an opportunity to lay down roots, or even make close friends when you are constantly moving.
Still, these positions do come with perks. It’s easy to find work in these jobs, and travel nurses even enjoy large, six-figure salaries.
Conclusion
The path to market job entry is short for most new nurses. The need for qualified staff is so large that many people are able to find a job in several weeks. You don’t need to get special certifications or pursue careers you aren’t interested in.
You do need to understand your market. The more open to opportunities you are, the easier it will be to find a job. The person who is determined to work at the hospital five minutes from their house might wait longer than the person who is willing to drive thirty minutes into the city.
That said, it’s a good time to be a nurse looking for work. Stick with it. Your dream job is out there.
