Public and Private Nursing: Why You Should Look Into This Career

Many men and women today find nursing to be a meaningful and satisfying career choice. With so many types of nursing jobs available, there are plenty of optional career choices. Mainly, nursing jobs fall into two categories, public nursing and private nursing. Below are distinctive advantages to each.

Public Sector Nursing

Public nursing jobs include working at hospitals, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, doctors' offices, and other medical establishments. There are nurses employed in schools and in corporate organizations, as well. Depending on the type of environment you prefer and the level of patient that most interest you, there are numerous possibilities to consider.

• Variety of People/Patients - Professional nursing jobs in large facilities like hospitals or nursing homes can be meaningful because of the constant patient turnover. You will meet people from all walks of life with a variety of diseases, injuries, and illnesses. You can help new babies begin life and the elderly prepare to depart. Their individual education levels and socio-economic backgrounds may differ, but all will depend on your nursing knowledge and experience to save, preserve, or improve their lives. Ask-a-nurse programs hire nurses to provide telephone responses to people who call in with medical questions. These nurses often serve as liaisons between callers and doctors to ensure the caller gets the right care.

• Following Protocols - Working with corporate clients in a large-scale company can be interesting due to the goal of keeping everyone healthy and in compliance with company safety and health protocols. Workshops in lifestyle health, such as weight loss and smoking cessation, may be offered during work hours or after work to enhance employees' personal and professional lives.

• School Nurses - Schoolchildren offer a unique opportunity to nurture young life and teach children how to live in healthy ways. From nutrition to sexual responsibility to sports health, school nurses can work in a range of possible jobs to guide children in safety, healthy, and hygiene behaviors that can keep them well and happy. Public nursing jobs usually pay an hourly rate and often pay benefits as well for full-time positions of forty hours weekly or more.

Private Sector Nursing

Many nurses now work in private nursing due to hospital layoffs or the need for a second part-time job. Private nursing involves providing nurse services for an individual or a family rather than a public institution. Positions include being a sitter, or someone who sits beside the bedside of a patient with a serious or chronic disorder who needs to be monitored to keep from falling out of bed or slipping into unconsciousness, for example.

• At-Home Care - Another private duty nursing position is to help care for an invalid who needs at-home medical attention or treatment that the family cannot provide. A child with cystic fibrosis or an elderly person with Alzheimer's are examples of the type of patient that may require personal care in a home environment instead of a medical facility. A private nurse might work a specific number of scheduled hours per week or may stop in a few times each week to check on the patient, in a visiting nurse role.

• Private Schools/Daycares - Private daycare centers or schools may also hire nurses to be on staff on a full-time basis, or the nurse may come to the school on a part-time schedule. Sometimes a nurse may simply be on call rather than working a set number of hours. Private nurses can be hired for summer camps, day camps, and other limited-time or one-time events. They are usually paid an hourly rate, often without benefits for those who work less than forty hours per week.

Either of these professional fields offer satisfying careers to nurses who want to help others regain or maintain good health. Both of these nursing options will require dedication and some kind of education, like working through a masters of science in nursing program from an accredited college of some sort. Some nurses start in the public domain and switch to private duty, or vice versa. Both are good career directions for the nursing profession.