How to build career in nursing

Nursing is already a renowned profession that includes working in medical centres, hospitals, clinics, etc but you might be pleasantly surprised to discover that there are more high-paying choices available for nurses apart from hospitals and healthcare industry. During Covid-19, there has been a huge demand of these professionals to assist big businesses in ensuring that they are adopting the necessary safeguards to stem the spread of virus.

A corporate nursing job could be a fantastic opportunity for you if you are a registered nurse who is burnt out from the pressures of traditional hospital nursing but still wants to work in the industry.

Who are corporate Nurses?

Corporate nurses are in-charge of providing medical care to the company's employees. They would typically be responsible for assessing workplace's health concerns, offering first-aid when necessary, and fostering employee well-being. As you won't be directly interacting with patients or dealing with medical emergencies, and you won't be required to work night shifts or weekends, corporate nursing is less stressful than working in hospitals and medical facilities.

Corporate nurses must be extremely knowledgeable and skilled in workplace emergencies involving healthcare in order to be successful. To identify potential workplace dangers, they should examine the workplace and develop intervention plans accordingly."

Becoming a corporate Nurse

Corporate nursing positions centre on offering medical services and guidance to a business or organisation. A nursing licence, which calls for at least an associate's degree in nursing, is nearly always one of the requirements for beginning a career in corporate nursing. Employers may prefer candidates with a bachelor's degree for management and coordination positions. Depending on the requirements of your position, you could additionally need training, expertise, or experience in workplace security. You could need a stronger understanding of healthcare programmes and insurance if your department deals with healthcare-related inquiries.

To meet the requirements of the industry you work in, you could also need continual training and further education. The additional credentials you need after earning your Registered Nurse certification depend on the sector of the economy and the position you want to fill.

Corporate roles for Nurses

To determine the needs for health and safety in the workplace, occupational health nurses work with an organisation. These nurses offer healthcare to their employees on-site and help with those needs. Occupational health nurses work in hospitals, clinics, industrial and production facilities, as well as in other industries, such as the government. Workplace activities may include case management, infection control, ergonomics, workplace safety, disaster preparedness, and other things like travel health. The jobs that occupational health nurses hold include those of clinicians, case managers, educators, directors, and consultants.

Legal Nurse consultant

Legal nurse consultants combine their extensive medical expertise with a grasp of nursing and health care laws. Legal nurses work with lawyers to construct lawsuits against healthcare organisations, insurance providers, hospitals, and doctors who are thought to have committed malpractice. Typically, lawyers lack the expertise to do medical research, so they may enlist the help of a knowledgeable nurse. These consultants collaborate on medical cases with lawyers and legal firms. These people are in charge of giving much-needed medical advice to lawyers who represent both patients and healthcare staff.

Healthcare sales educator

Many businesses need qualified nurses to educate salespeople on the usage and function of medical products or to promote medical supplies, drugs, or equipment to doctors. In this field, nurses may work as educators who advise both the sales staff and clients on how to utilise equipment properly. Those who previously held the position of registered nurse will be able to make use of their prior expertise in this position in a novel method that does not include providing patient care. They will also be exposed to the medical device sector, where there is room for long-term career progression.

Nurse researcher

A nurse researcher investigates numerous facets of healthcare and illness as an advanced nurse practitioner. It is their duty to use the rigour of scientific research to find fresh approaches to enhancing healthcare outcomes and services. The meticulous nurse is required by scientists and medical professionals to follow, observe, and record the necessary details for the outcomes of their clinical studies. Their research findings may eventually be disseminated to the general public and healthcare industry. If this is something that interests you, you could decide to pursue certification as a clinical research associate, which would put you in charge of organising clinical trials, travelling to new assignments, and helping to find study participants.

As the world is progressing, nurses have a lot of good choices. Positions in the healthcare industry can now move freely outside of the conventional fields of care, and the nursing practice is no longer static. Corporate nursing sector provide additional leadership roles with the opportunity to influence decisions that will benefit a bigger population.

(The author is the Business Head, India and overseas, Institute of Occupational Training Services (IOTS))