Community College Nursing Programs: Top 7 Nursing Career Paths

by A Guest Author

Community College Nursing ProgramA person who wants to become a registered nurse often will start his or her education at two year community college nursing programs.

This is an affordable and efficient way to earn the minimum college degree to get into the nursing field - an associate’s degree.

With your community college associates degree, you can become a licensed practical nurse, or LPN, after you pass your NCLEX-PN.

This allows you to gain experience in the field of nursing and earn a competitive salary of up to $40,000 per year according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Community College Nursing Programs are Just The Beginning of Your Career

The great news is that earning your LPN is just the start of what can be a highly rewarding career in the field of nursing.

After going to community college for 2 years, you can transfer to a four year college where you can earn your bachelor’s degree in nursing and become an RN, where you can earn a median salary of up to $64,000 per year.

If you're ambitious, you can even transfer to Ivy League from community college.

And after that, you can specialize in many different nursing fields and go to the top of the pay scale in the nursing profession, some of which pay more than $100,000 per year.

So, a two year commitment to a community college nursing program can really pay off!

Top 7 Nursing Careers for Community College Nursing Program Students

Some of the best, top paying nursing school careers that you can choose are listed below...

#1 Certified Nurse Midwife

A certified nurse midwife (CNM) delivers babies, but also provides all sorts of healthcare services to patients, including family planning, gynecological exams, and prenatal and postnatal care.

A CNM usually works in a hospital, clinic, private practice, health department and even in private homes.

You need to get your bachelor’s degree in nursing, and then usually a master of science in nursing (MSN). You can also obtain a general masters in nursing, view it now to see if this is the right path for you.

Salary: $82,000.

#2 Nurse Educator

Nurse educators are in high demand today, with more than 20% growth anticipated in this field by 2020.

There is such a shortage of these professionals, that in some cases, nursing students are turned away because there is not enough teachers to train them.

Also, nurses always need to take classes for continuing education credits, so there is always a strong demand for good educators in this field.

As a nurse educator, you will design, implement and evaluate nursing education programs.

You will teach at a college, technical school or a school in a hospital.

You will probably need an MSN, and you will have a great deal of clinical training at an advanced level.

Salary: $72,000.

#3 Nurse Practitioner (NP)

NPs are both primary and secondary care health providers.

This profession is in great demand, as there generally are fewer physicians entering the field of medicine.

Many states require an NP to work in conjunction with a doctor.

Some states also allow them to actually run their own health practices.

NPs can prescribe many types of medication.

According to the American Nursing Association, NPs can do up to 80% of primary and preventive care.

You will serve often as the front line health care practitioner in many doctor’s offices.

The most common places that they work include family practice, pediatrics, geriatrics, acute care and women’s health.

You will need to have a license as an RN, and you will need your MSN.

There are some NPs that even have their doctorate in nursing.

Salary: $79,000.

#4 Nurse Case Manager

This is a fine choice for an RN with a bachelor’s degree who wants a change of pace from the regular tasks of nursing.

You will monitor how patients are doing, evaluate their level of care, and in some cases, you will come up with different forms of treatment.

They often will advocate for patients, but they also need to at times find the most cost effective type of care for medical facilities and insurance companies.

You may even end up working for an insurance company.

There are some RN to BSN and RN to MSN programs that have this nursing case manager track.

Salary: $67,000.

#5 Certified Legal Nurse Consultant (CLNC)

This is an excellent career choice for an experienced nurse who no longer wishes to work in a health care setting.

Many CLNCs work in a law office, or even at home.

Some may work for government organizations, private companies or insurance companies.

A CLNC is a registered nurse who uses his or her expertise in the field of nursing, and also specialized training in this field, to serve as a consultant on lawsuits related to medical care.

A CLNC is a good option for an attorney to gain cost-effective expertise about the health care system and the nursing field.

A CLNC will do research, help with case discovery, find standards of care, go over medical records and find experts to testify at trial.

You only need to be an RN to enter this field, and do not even have to have a bachelor’s degree.

Salary: $61,000.

#6 Certified Dialysis Nurse

This type of nurse assists patients whose kidneys are not functioning right.

These patients usually must rely on dialysis to get rid of waste products from their bodies.

This is one of the fields of nursing that is growing the fastest.

Many of the nurses in this field are able to work at a regular 9-5 shift, which is a great benefit and a nice change from 12 hour shifts.

To become a certified dialysis nurse, you need to have an RN license and a minimum of 2000 hours of care of patients on dialysis.

Salary: $62,000.

#7 Nurse Anesthetist

This is one of the highest-paying nurse specialties.

A professional nurse in this field administers and maintains anesthesia.

They work with surgeons, anesthesiologists and dentists to give proper anesthesia to patients.

To become a nurse anesthetist, you need to have an RN license, a bachelor’s degree, and a master of science in nursing from a top rated nursing school.

You will also need to have your certification form the National Board on Certification and Recertification of Nurse Anesthetists, or NBCRNA.

You may work in a hospital, doctor’s office, pain clinic or dentist’s office.

Salary: $135,000.

Where Will Your Community College Nursing Program Take You?

Whether you choose one of these nursing specialities or another, know this: You really can get a great start on a highly rewarding nursing career by earning your associate’s degree in nursing at your local community college.

Which career path appeals to you?

Let us know in the comments below!

This post was written by A Guest Author

This post was written by a guest author. If you have high quality, useful information to share with students, send us an email or click Write For Us to learn more. And in case you're wondering - yes, you can promote yourself in this fancy author byline.

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