Would you like to further your nursing career and become an Advanced Practice Nurse? You can move toward becoming an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse APRN, a Nurse Practitioner NP, a Certified Nurse Midwife CNM, a Clinical Nurse Specialist CNS or a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists CRNA. All of these jobs are in high demand as the APN will play a very important role in healthcare in the future. Advanced coursework and clinical education is required if you choose to go this route to enhance your skills and advance your career.

APRN's are sometimes the primary care provider for many patients. Nurse Practitioners practice in private offices, clinics, nursing homes and hospitals.

The CNS or Clinical Nurse Specialist is a clinical expert in a specialized area or nursing practice and is responsible for the diagnosis and treatment of patients, disease management, health promotion and prevention of illness and risk behaviors. The CNS integrates care across the three parties, patient, nurse, system and the primary goal is continuous improvement of patient outcomes and nursing care.

Certified Nurse Midwife, CNM, is an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse who has training and education in midwifery. Nurse midwives practice in hospitals and private practice medical clinics and may deliver babies in birthing centers and attend home births.

The CRNA, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists are nurses who specialize in the administration of anesthesia. The CRNA in the US has acquired graduate level education and board certification in anesthesia.

A Masters Degree is normally required for most of the APN jobs and many more not listed here. The demand for APN professionals in the healthcare travel industry is expected to continue its growth over the next decade.

Mary Crawford, HealthCare Employment Network