The 17 branches (or fields) of Nursing

Caring for patients is never a simple task. Patience, love, understanding and authority are needed so that a quality service can be given to you, while at the same time they make people responsible with the commitment to their treatment and gets better.

And, although the importance of the work of these professionals is sometimes underestimated, it cannot be hide the fact that they are a key part of the medical world, because although doctors are the ones who heal, nurses must deal directly with the needs of all inpatients and their recovery. To learn more about this profession, we will talk in this article about the branches into which nursing is divided and what each of them is about.

What is Nursing?

Nursing is the science of health that is responsible for providing care and attention to sick and seriously admitted patients within a hospital, in order to achieve full recovery. For this, they are in charge of administering the correct doses of medications, maintenance of vital supports, cleaning of personnel, monitor diet, participate in rehabilitation therapies, among other functions depending on the need of the person.

This is the field of health that has the most demand, because constant medical assistance is always needed for people, both in the hospital and in residences.

What specialties exist in the world of Nursing?

We must emphasize that, before specializing, they must obtain a nursing degree, where they can work in a hospital, due to their general knowledge of care. Below you will find out which are the branches into which nursing is divided.

1. Pediatric nursing

As its name implies, it is the branch of nursing that focuses on the care of children, including infants and youth up to 16 years of age. Therefore, specialists must study the functioning and development of each type of body according to their age, however, they must place greater emphasis on the evolutionary development of the smallest, because it is where most changes and abnormal behaviors are observed, as well as reactions to medicines.

2. Surgical nursing

Nurses can also attend the time of an operation, so they work together with surgeons. Its function is the correct management of the surgical and technological clothing necessary for the specifications required in an intervention. This needs careful attention since each operation is different because they depend on the type of diagnosis that they are intervening.

3. Obstetric - gynecological nursing

This is considered the most popular and demanding specialty of all, as it is the assistance provided to the pregnant woman. Its function is to monitor the correct embryonic development and provide the required neonatal care. This branch is also known as primary care nursing.

4. Neonatal nursing

They work in conjunction with OB / GYN nurses, only they focus on give specialized care to babies once born, whether or not they present any complications. In order to guarantee an adequate subsequent development, both in cases of transition between the hospital and daily life or for disease control and thus parents have a firm direction that follow, continue.

This is another of the most demanded branches of nursing because every day they discover that the need for care is necessary special medical treatment for newborns, both for the early detection of anomalies and to provide comprehensive care basic.

5. Mental health nursing

Also called psychiatric nursing, the people specialized in this area are in charge of maintaining the health and quality of life of patients with mental disorders or psychological illnesses. These people need particular assistance, as it will depend on the type of condition they present and the treatment required. In addition, it should be noted that psychiatric nurses need containment training and management of emotional overflows.

6. Geriatric Nursing

In this field, nurses offer their care to the elderlyEither in their own homes, hospitals or in nursing homes. These people specialize in the life cycle of the elderly, the conditions that may be present and the most effective ways to preserve your quality of life, with physical exercises and mental.

7. Work Nursing

This branch is little known but with a great reception, it is about the assistance provided to workers in various institutions. Their function is to ensure that the responsibilities are consistent with their position and that they do not exceed such point at which, they can aggravate their occupational health, in order to reduce and avoid the risks labor.

Likewise, they take care of people who have suffered injuries due to accidents within their work and create health promotion campaigns within organizations. It is also known as industrial nursing or occupational health nursing.

8. Family and community nursing

This field receives its name from its work in communities and in specific populations, through promoting health habits, disease prevention and awareness of the importance of maintaining good health habits in order to have an excellent quality of life. In addition, they care for people with contagious viral diseases to prevent their spread and participate in vaccination days.

9. Practical nursing

This is another of the very little known nursing specializations and, nevertheless, it is one of those that requires more academic preparation, since focus on dealing with complex cases and special together with the doctors who work in those cases, offering their assistance to register the changes that occur.

There are countries where this specialization is accredited to work independently to solve complicated cases in which they are interested. Their work is highly valued in the medical community, as their results can help complement physicians.

10. Orthopedic nursing

This is a rather delicate branch of nursing, since they deal with patients who have orthopedic complications, that is, those with musculoskeletal problems such as osteoporosis, fractures, arthritis, scoliosis, among others. For this reason, they need to be trained in each bone disease and in the special care for each case, without seriously affecting their lifestyle.

11. Intensive nursing

These male and female nurses are the ones who are working in the intensive care unit (ICU) of hospitals and clinics, specialize in critical patient treatment and recovery. From the implementation of medical supplies and monitoring their constant evolution, to dealing with the families of patients.

These specialists must continuously monitor the improvement or worsening of hospitalized people, at specific daily hours (depending on your condition) and adapt the changes required according to your condition.

12. Emergency Nursing

This can be confused with the previous branch, but the difference between the two is that it focuses specifically on assist patients in the emergency area, where they work to monitor and stabilize your vital signs, perform a basic assessment of your state of severity, perform the treatment that is warranted at the time and prepare patients for their intervention specific. These nurses must work in a fast time, so they must be precise, careful and alert.

13. Anesthesiology Nursing

This is one of the fields that requires more study and preparation time, as it is considered one of the most delicate of all. It's about the assistance for the supply of anesthesia to patients who will undergo surgery minor or major. So they need to know the appropriate doses for the condition that a person presents and to know in which cases it cannot be applied (for example, when there are allergic reactions or resistance). It is perhaps the one that most requires commitment and responsibility, but it is also the one that provides the best economic benefits.

14. Nursing and palliative care

This specialization is the one that has to do with the care of people with terminal illnesses, it is in charge of granting them the best possible quality of life with medical treatments that relieve your pain and in creating plans for eating habits and occupational. In order to create a state of peaceful transition for the patient and their families.

15. Oncology Nursing

As we can guess from her name, they are the nurses who specialize in the care required by people with cancer. They are attentive to the treatment that each person requires, monitor their evolution, as well as the creation of plans to improve their daily health habits, such as food, recreation, commitment to follow up on your therapy and the care that you should follow after the entire treatment.

16. Research Nursing

This specialty is different from the previous ones described since they focus on develop studies and research that may be useful for the training and scientific evolution of nursing and medicine that can help better diagnosis and treatment of various diseases.

17. Military infirmary

They are nurses who specialize in the care required by the military, from intensive care intervention to health promotion and disease prevention within the military. In order to guarantee an adequate physical and mental state for her work, as well as an optimal recovery.