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Nursing is more than checking vital signs at regular intervals. The nursing field is full of opportunities for the new and experienced nurse who doesn't want to be limited in his or her choices. Here are five of the top choices in the nursing profession.

Once you graduate from nursing school, take a deep breath. The hard part is over and the fun begins. Now, you get to choose where you want to start your nursing career. The hospital floor is not the only choice out there anymore.

1. Home Health Nursing - People are living longer. With that comes the issue of care in the home. More seniors are opting to stay in their primary residence and take advantage of the home health benefits of their insurance plans. One popular nursing job is that of a home health nurse because they have the benefit of making their own schedule. They can take on as few or as many patients as they can handle. Home health nurses aid in bathing, wound care and dressing, general health assessments, and any other issues that the patient may have. There patients can be invalids or ambulatory folks that don't get around so well and seek a nurse that is willing to tend to their care within the home setting. Home health nurses are well paid for their skills and friendly bedside manner.

2. Nursing Assistants - Nursing assistants are an integral part of the nursing profession. They are not registered nurses but they provide patient care that falls under the category of the nursing profession. Nursing assistants are not only found in nursing homes. They work in hospitals, senior living communities, home health, psychiatric facilities, and other facilities where their care is needed. They care for terminally ill patients including children. Nursing assistants provide the care that others shy away from such as changing bedpans, bathing patients that can't bathe themselves, and feeding those patients whose disabilities prevent them from doing it for themselves. They bring respect to the area of nursing care and dignity to their patients. Nursing assistants see, on a daily basis, how their jobs impact the quality of life of their patients and their families. As patients get older, nursing assistants will be needed in big numbers.

3. Emergency Room Nursing - Have you been to an emergency room lately? You have a few doctors that see patients, but the majority of the staff is comprised of nurses. Nurses assess the patients and triage them according to injuries. They monitor them while they wait for a doctor or transfer to another department in the hospital. Emergency room nursing is a fast-paced and stressful atmosphere that satisfies the adventure junky in some of us. Nurses that think fast on their feet would get quite a bit of enjoyment from this area of nursing. There is no shortage of accidents on the road, in the home, and in the air. The job of these nurses is critical to the survival of patients that are hanging on by the thinnest thread.

4. Floor Nursing - There is a wide variety of options in this area. Floor nurses have the options of maternity, critical care, orthopedics, telemetry, surgical, geriatric, and pediatrics. Within these general categories are also oncology and burn units. A nurse can gain lots of experience working within one or several of these areas during their nursing careers. Floor nurses are responsible for a certain number of patients each shift. Patients have the comfort of getting to know their nursing staff and the staff has the pleasure of taking care of them.

5. Operating Room Nursing - Nurses work in the surgical area as well. Nurses can pursue careers as a circulating nurse in the operating room suite, surgical first assistant to the surgeon, and nurse anesthesia care. Nurses that provide anesthesia have at least two years of critical care experience and have attended a nurse anesthesia school for training. Circulating nurses are responsible for everyone in their operating room that day. They function as patient advocates--making sure that the patient being operated on is the correct patient and that the doctor is performing the correct procedure.

Nurses have many career paths available to them. They can pursue any of these five areas or another that they feel drawn to follow.

Jeff Craft has experience working in the healthcare industry as a nurse and writes about medical careers and nursing jobs for HealthCareJobs411. Craft provides first-hand knowledge to job seekers who need advice on how to pursue a healthcare job. Learn about traveling nurse jobs as well as many other popular positions in the profession.

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