3 Comments so far

1. Jill on February 7, 2010 4:49 pm

   NA or CNA = nursing assistant or certified nursing assistant. Not really a nurse. It’s about a 1 month program, doesn’t earn you a degree, but you can be certified or licensed through the state.
   LPN or LVN = Licensed Pracitical or Licensed Vocational Nurse. Usually a 1 year program, does NOT earn you any degree, but you are eligible for state licensure as a LPN / LVN. More educated than a nursing assistant, can pass certain medications, perform certain skills like wound care, etc., but still not as qualified or hold as much responsibility as a RN
   RN = registered nurse, you can be one with a minimum of a 2 year Associates Degree. Trained in all aspects of anatomy, physiology, disease pathology. Expected to perform complex assessments of the patient, create nursing diagnoses, establish goals and a care plan designed to meet those goals. Retains a high level of legal responsibility, even if tasks are delegated to assistive personel like CNAs or LPNs.
   BSN = Bachelor of Science in Nursing, which is just a 4 year RN degree. Both the 2 year and the BSN graduates sit for the exact same licensure exam and earn the same RN license. The difference between the 2 is many more general education courses, and ,more nursing courses which would include Public Health Nursing, nursing research, nursing leadership / management, and more in-depth learning about different nursing care models and the history of the profession. With a BSN degree you are more qualified for administrative or management positions, but not at any advantage over 2 year RNs if you are only seeking a regular hospital staff nursing job – my hospital pays only $1 more per hour for BSN staff nurses.
   CRNA = an advanced practice nurse who specializes in Anesthesia through a masters degree; the highest paying nursing job available, starting at about $100,000 per year – but highly competative field and you must be a stellar performer both academically and professionally to even get accepted into anesthesia school
   There are many specialties you can get into, many of which were listed above in a previous answer. But I will say that you can work in any number of areas as a RN. If you really enjoy your specialty area, there are certification exams you can take to earn the title RN,C or you can go back to graduate school to become a Clinical Nurse Specialist of a specialty or a Nurse Practitioner to work with specific populations (like Pediatrics, or Gerontology).

2. toy* on February 7, 2010 5:19 pm

   BSN = RN + 4 year degree in nursing
   RN = 2 year associates program
   APRN = RN + graduate degree
   LPN = 2 year program with licensure
   CNA = certificate program
   Nurses can specialize in any healthcare field. If you want to work with children, you would work in pediatrics. If enter into a 4 year nursing school, you will get experience in almost every field.

3. Laura in North Carolina on February 7, 2010 6:09 pm

   Here are list of some things nurses can specialize in:
   Ambulatory care nursing
   Advanced practice nursing
   Behavioral health nursing
   Burn nursing
   Camp nursing
   Cardiac nursing
   Cardiac catheter laboratory nursing
   Case management
   Clinical nurse specialist
   Clinical research nurse
   Community health nursing
   Correctional nursing
   Critical care nursing
   Developmental disabilities nursing
   District nursing
   Emergency nursing
   Environmental Health nursing
   Flight nursing
   Forensic nursing
   Gastroenterology nursing
   Genetics nursing
   Geriatric nursing
   Health visiting
   Hematology oncology nursing
   HIV/AIDS nursing
   Home health nursing
   Hospice nursing
   Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Nursing
   Intavenous therapy nursing
   Infectious disease nursing
   Legal nursing
   Legal Nurse Investigator
   Maternal-child nursing
   Matron
   Medical-surgical nursing
   Military and uniformed services nursing, including Public Health Service
   Neonatal nursing
   Neuro-surgical nursing
   Nurse anesthetist
   Nurse-midwife
   Nurse practitioner
   Nursing educator
   Nursing informatics
   Nursing management
   Obstetrics gynecology nursing
   Occupational health nursing
   Oncology nursing
   Operating room nursing
   Orthopaedic nursing
   Ostomy nursing
   Pain management and palliative care nursing
   Pediatric nursing
   Perianesthesia nursing
   Perioperative nursing
   Plastic and reconstructive surgical nursing
   Private duty nursing
   Psychiatric or mental health nursing
   Public health
   Pulmonary nursing
   Quality improvement
   Radiology nursing
   Rehabilitation nursing
   Renal dialysis nursing
   Renal nursing
   Research
   School nursing
   Sub-acute nursing
   Substance abuse nursing
   Surgical Nursing
   Tele-medicine nursing
   Telemetry nursing
   Telephone triage nursing
   Transplantation nursing
   Travel nursing
   Urology nursing
   Utilization management
   Wound care