Despite the economy, career opportunities in health care and nursing are booming. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, as recently as 2006, the health care field was the largest in the U.S., offering approximately 14 million jobs as well as seven of the 20 fastest growing occupations.

The following details how to get a career in this in-demand field.

Certification and On-the-Job Training Options

One interesting fact about the health care field is that many positions require less than a four-year degree, in fact some of the fastest growing health care jobs require little or no specialized education. Careers including nursing and home health aides as well as medical and dental assistants get their training on the job or through a certificate program.

Undergraduate Career Options

Undergraduate degrees offer even more nursing and health care career options. Along with traditional careers such as registered nursing, social work and occupational therapy, there are new trends opening in the field of health care. For instance, RNs who might want to follow a different career could consider becoming a certified legal nurse consultant (CLNC). CLNCs assist attorneys with medical issues. Another new job trend is medical illustration. Medical illustrators use their knowledge of human science and medical concepts to create educational materials for publications and journals and can earn as much $75,000 annually.

Higher Education Career Options

Naturally, higher education offers opportunities for surgeons, psychiatrists, cardiologists and other doctors. However, if medical school isn’t your thing, getting a higher education in the health care field offers a variety of other lucrative positions. Genetics, for instance, is a health care field that offers unique and in-demand jobs. Such jobs include behavioral geneticists, who solve health problems by identifying gene-related therapies, and genetics counseling, which involves informing and supporting families who have members with birth defects or genetic disorders.

Surgical Nurse- It is one of the few professions in nursing sector that is high in demand. Working as a surgical nurse your work responsibility may revolve around preparing patients before surgery and helping the surgeon in the operating room.  Adding to this, you may also be responsible for ensuring that the operating rooms are ready, and well equipped with the essential medical equipments and tools. It terms of job outlook, it is one of the few careers that may enjoy the largest projected rate of growth in comparison to any other occupation.

Forensic Nurse- Over the last few years, the progress in the growing field of forensic science has created a new and wide platform for forensic nursing. It is yet another emerging career in the field of nursing.  It can be the ideal option for you if you are looking forward to getting bigger beyond your core nursing abilities and turn out to be experts in clinical diagnosis. In terms of job responsibilities, you may require to work with law enforcement officials and aid in the inquiry of crimes like accidental death, assault or abuse. Apart from this, at times you may also require to treat the sufferers of these crimes.

Clinical Nurse Specialist – This is another specialized nursing field and one of the most advanced careers in the field of nursing. The key feature that makes this profession different from others is that the role of the clinical nurse specialist is not limited to patient care. As a clinical nurse specialist, you may even require to discuss with or educate your respective staff for quality improvement and decrease medical errors.

Legal Nurse Consultant- If you are planning to be a nurse, but have an inclination towards working in courtrooms and emergency rooms then this career can be the best option. With specialized training and your RN license, you can make your career as a legal nurse consultant. This is one of the few professions in nursing where you as a nurse consultant serve as a connection between health care and legal settings. Working as a legal nurse consultant, you may require reviewing the medical accounts for attorneys and help them decide whether any sort of medical malpractice has occurred in a particular case or not.

Emergency Department/Trauma Center Nurse- With some specialized training and your RN license, you can also make and enjoy your career as a trauma center nurse. Working as a trauma center nurse, in most of the occasions you could be the foremost individual to witness a seriously injured patient and so your key responsibility may include the triaging the patient and further evaluating the degree of his or her injuries. Apart from all this, you may even require performing different medical measures like observing, controlling medications, drawing blood and placing nasogastric tubes.

Gerontologist- This is yet another and one of the most emerging careers in the field of nursing. This career provides ample scope for you interact with and provide assistance to older adults. It is one of the few professions that offer ample opportunities to work in various settings like government agencies, retirement communities, nursing homes and even long-term institutional care. Today if we look at the job prospects in this profession, it is better than other professions and in the next few years even expected to increase further.

Today no doubt, nursing is a career where rewards are great and in long-term career race you may experience deep contentment in assisting those who always needed your help. Doctors generally prescribe medicines, but it is nurse who actually performs and guides the patient to medicines.