| Nursing is a profession focused on assisting individuals, | | | | Critical care nursing |
| families and communities in attaining, re-attaining and | | | | Developmental disabilities nursing |
| maintaining optimal health and functioning. Modern | | | | District nursing |
| definitions of nursing define it as a science and an art | | | | Emergency nursing |
| that focuses on promoting quality of life as defined by | | | | Environmental Health nursing |
| persons and families, throughout their life experiences | | | | Flight nursing |
| from birth to care at the end of life. | | | | Forensic nursing |
| In pre-modern times, nuns and the military often | | | | Gastroenterology nursing |
| provided nursing services. The religious and military | | | | Genetics nursing |
| roots of modern nursing remain in evidence today. For | | | | Geriatric nursing |
| example, in Britain, senior female nurses are known as | | | | Health visiting |
| "Sisters". In recent times in the US and Canada many | | | | Hematology oncology nursing |
| nurses are flowing back into working in a "religious" | | | | HIV/AIDS nursing |
| field through "Parish Nursing". These nurses work within | | | | Home health nursing |
| a church community to perform health education, | | | | Hospice nursing |
| counseling, provide referrals to community support | | | | Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Nursing |
| agencies, and connect volunteers from the church | | | | Intavenous therapy nursing |
| community with those in need of assistance. | | | | Infectious disease nursing |
| Nurses acknowledge that the nursing profession is an | | | | Legal nursing |
| essential part of the society from which it has grown. | | | | Legal Nurse Investigator |
| The authority for the practice of nursing is based upon | | | | Maternal-child nursing |
| a social contract that delineates professional rights and | | | | Medical-surgical nursing |
| responsibilities as well as mechanisms for public | | | | Military and uniformed services nursing, including Public |
| accountability. The practice of nursing involves altruistic | | | | Health Service |
| behavior, is guided by nursing research and is | | | | Neonatal nursing |
| governed by a code of ethics. | | | | Neuro-surgical nursing |
| Nursing continues to develop a wide body of | | | | Nurse anesthetist |
| knowledge and associated skills. There are a number | | | | Nurse-midwife |
| of educational paths to becoming a professional nurse | | | | Nurse practitioner |
| but all involve extensive study of nursing theory and | | | | Nursing educator |
| practice and training in clinical skills. | | | | Nursing informatics |
| In almost all countries, nursing practice is defined and | | | | Nursing management |
| governed by law and entrance to the profession is | | | | Obstetrics gynecology nursing |
| regulated by national, state, or territorial boards of | | | | Occupational health nursing |
| nursing. | | | | Oncology nursing |
| The American Nurses' Association (1980) has defined | | | | Operating room nursing |
| nursing as "the diagnosis and treatment of human | | | | Orthopaedic nursing |
| responses to actual or potential health problems." Just | | | | Ostomy nursing |
| as medical diagnoses help in the planning, implementing, | | | | Pain management and palliative care nursing |
| and evaluation of medical care, Nursing diagnoses help | | | | Pediatric nursing |
| in the planning, implementing, and evaluation of nursing | | | | Perianesthesia nursing |
| care. | | | | Perioperative nursing |
| Like other maturing disciplines, nursing has developed | | | | Plastic and reconstructive surgical nursing |
| different theories that are aligned with diverging | | | | Private duty nursing |
| philosophical beliefs and paradigms or worldviews. | | | | Psychiatric or mental health nursing |
| Nursing theories help nurses to direct their activities in | | | | Public health |
| order to accomplish specific goals with people. Nursing | | | | Pulmonary nursing |
| is a knowledge based discipline committed to the | | | | Quality improvement |
| betterment of humankind. Nursing has not only | | | | Radiology nursing |
| developed into a profession, but an art as well. | | | | Rehabilitation nursing |
| Nursing is the most diverse of all healthcare | | | | Renal dialysis nursing |
| professions. It is a universal role appearing in some | | | | Renal nursing |
| form in every culture. | | | | Research |
| Nursing may be divided into different specialties or | | | | School nursing |
| classifications. In the U.S., there are a large number of | | | | Sub-acute nursing |
| specialties within nursing. Professional organizations or | | | | Substance abuse nursing |
| certifying boards issue voluntary certification in many | | | | Tele-medicine nursing |
| of these areas. | | | | Telemetry nursing |
| These specialties encompass care throughout the | | | | Telephone triage nursing |
| human lifespan based upon patient needs. Many | | | | Transplantation nursing |
| nurses who choose a specialty become certified in | | | | Travel nursing |
| that area, signifying that they possess expert | | | | Urology nursing |
| knowledge of the specialty. There are over 200 | | | | Utilization management |
| nursing specialties and sub-specialties. Certified nurses | | | | Wound care |
| often earn a salary differential over their non-certified | | | | Professional organizations or certifying boards issue |
| colleagues, and studies from the Institute of Medicine | | | | voluntary certification in many of these specialties. |
| have demonstrated that specialty certified nurses | | | | Nursing assistant skills are the set of learned tasks |
| have higher rates of patient satisfaction, as well as | | | | used in helping residents or patients with activities of |
| lower rates of work-related errors in patient care. | | | | daily living (ADLs) and providing bedside |
| Nurses practice in a wide range of settings from | | | | care—including basic nursing |
| hospitals to visiting people in their homes and caring for | | | | procedures—under the supervision of a |
| them in schools to research in pharmaceutical | | | | Registered Nurse (RN) or Licensed Practical Nurse |
| companies. Nurses work in occupational health settings | | | | (LPN). |
| (also called industrial health settings), free-standing | | | | In today's hospitals and extended care facillities a nurse |
| clinics and physician offices, nurse-run clinics, long-term | | | | assistant is an important part of a healthcare team |
| care facilities, and camps. Nurses work on cruise ships | | | | that includes many personnel outside of nurses. In the |
| and in military service. They act as advisors and | | | | quest to make a profit from providing care many |
| consultants to the healthcare and insurance industries. | | | | hospitals in the United States have reduced their nurse |
| Some nurses are attorneys and others work with | | | | to patient ratios, requiring one nurse to take care of as |
| attorneys as legal nurse consultants, reviewing patient | | | | many as twelve or fourteen patients at a time. In order |
| records to assure that adequate care was provided | | | | for good care to be provided to those patients a nurse |
| and testifying in court. In many cities, nurses can even | | | | assistant is needed to provide the routine care so that |
| enter their names in a "registry" and work a wide | | | | the nurse can focus on tasks only he/she can do, such |
| variety of temporary jobs. | | | | as care plans, nursing assessments, administering |
| In the modern world, there are a large number of | | | | medication, and assist in surgery room preparation. The |
| specialities within nursing: | | | | nurse assistant must not only be very skilled in the |
| Ambulatory care nursing | | | | actual procedures being performed but must also be |
| Advanced practice nursing | | | | able to make quick observations of a patient's |
| Behavioral health nursing | | | | condition and report that information back to the nurse. |
| Camp nursing | | | | Since the nurse cannot spend large amounts of time in |
| Cardiac nursing | | | | the room with the patient, the nurse assistant is known |
| Cardiac catheter laboratory nursing | | | | as the nurse's "eyes and ears". |
| Case management | | | | A nurse assistant must also have a strong grasp of |
| Clinical nurse specialist | | | | emergency procedures and be able to stay calm in |
| Clinical research nurse | | | | stressful situations. They must be able to initiate a |
| Community health nursing | | | | Code Blue and be well-drilled in CPR. |
| Correctional nursing | | | | |