Best Jobs for Nurses

As a nurse, your main goal in life is helping others. However, it would be nice to help others in a comfortable work environment, with decent pay and benefits, without stressing yourself beyond belief, right? To help nurses find they best jobs for them, here a few different options for nurses that are well paid, with some taking you off the normal beaten path.

- Nurse Anesthetist. By far the best paying nursing job out there, with salaries ranging between $80,000 and $150,000 a year. The hard thing about this job is that in order to find training, you may have to move across the country for your education. The schools are very competitive and have extremely limited class sizes. The program will take 2-3 years, and once you've become certified, you will be administering and maintaining anesthesia in hospitals, doctor's offices, pain clinics and other healthcare centers.

- Flight Nurse. If you value excitement over high pay, consider getting a position as a flight nurse. There are limited positions, but the adrenaline provided is quite tempting. You will need at least a BSN, if not an MSN, and have excellent skills in trauma nursing. Be ready for intense weather conditions and all kinds of disaster situations.

- Forensic Nurse. Like solving problems and riddles? As a forensic nurse, you will be a part of a criminal investigation, collecting evidence at crime scenes and working with victims, both living and deceased. Very CSI, but an extremely rewarding career for those who can handle it. A BSN is required, as MSN is desired, and there could be some law-enforcement training in your future as well.

- Nurse Educator. While the jobs above are specialist positions and can be difficult to find a job in, there is a huge demand for nurse educators. There are even students being turned away from nursing schools due to a lack of nurse educators. The downside is the amount of schooling required -- you will need your masters, though a doctoral degree would be even better. You will get to work with students in a variety of environments and with a schedule far more flexible than most nurses have. The pay is generally around $70,000 a year, but you usually get school holidays off as well.

- Nurse Case Manager. If you'd like the chance to be away from the day to day duties of a nurse, this is a perfect position for you. You will study the progress of patients, scrutinize their care, offer different forms of treatment. You might be asked to find the most cost-efficient treatment plans for an insurance company or medical facility. Your pay will be in the $60,000 to $70,000 range, but you only need a BSN or at most, an MSN, to be qualified for the job.

Keep in mind that these are not the only jobs out there. There are countless opportunities for nurses, including travel nursing, nurse midwives, nurse researchers, and cruse ship nursing, just to name a few. Realize that however you want to help people, there is probably a job out there suited to your wants and needs. Now, do you know what you want?