Just like doctors, once they have completed most of their educational requirements nurses generally choose a specialty. Some nurses prefer to work in a small doctor's office, other nurses like the hustle and bustle of working in a busy hospital. Deciding the type of atmosphere you would like to work in will help you decide what type of specialty you should start pursuing. Nurses who are interested in spending time working as travel nurses need to choose a specialty so that the travel nurse agency they are hired by will have an easier time placing them at various locations.

Before a nursing student can settle on a specialty they need to do some research about each available specialty and choose one that best suits their interests and makes the best use of their individual personalities. There are many various specialties for students to choose from, they include; Ambulatory care, emergency care, occupational health, critical care nurses, holistic nurses, and home health care.

Nurses who pursue careers in ambulatory care are not nurses who ride around in ambulances. Nurses who specialize in ambulatory care are nurses who work at helping treat a multitude of illnesses and injuries. It isn't unusual for ambulatory nurses to expand their career to include video conferencing. It is often ambulatory nurses who can be found teaching educational courses.

Emergency care nurses are nurses who work in the emergency room. Emergency care nurses see patients who are suffering from strokes, heart attacks, severe injuries, and sudden illnesses. Some nurses who specialize in emergency care go on to get a helicopter pilots license so that they can fly the hospitals helicopter and pick up and transport patients to different hospitals. Emergency nurses see a variety of illnesses and injuries on a daily basis.

Occupational health nurses are nurses who work with patients that have been injured while they were working. It is not unusual for a business to hire the services of an occupational health nurse to come into their work area and identify any potentially dangerous issues. Occupational health nurses often have a close working relationship with OSHA.

Critical care nurses are exactly what they sound like, nurses who work in the critical care unit. These nurses take care of patients that are recovering from severe injuries, heart attack victims, and severely ill patients. Critical care nurses need to have steady nerves and have to be able to maintain their composure in all situations.

Holistic nurses are nurses who take care of patient's spiritual needs while providing services such as aroma therapy and acupuncture. These nurses are typically long on patience and have good communications skills.

Nurses who seek jobs that let them take care of rehabilitating patients after a patient returns home are called home care nurses. In some cases these nurse will actually move into the patient's house in order to take care of the patient's medical needs. Some home nurses, who take care of chronic health issues, work through hospice offices.