Nurses are the backbone of 21st-century nursing. This rapidly growing field has many different specialties that cover almost every aspect of life. Nurses are an incredibly diverse group of professionals who work hard to provide care for others in various settings.

If you’re someone thinking about pursuing a career in nursing, it can be hard to know which specialization to pursue. While you may be familiar with the mainstream ones, we’ve compiled a list of four nursing specialties that many don’t know about that could be the perfect fit for your personality and interests.

Forensic Nurse

A forensic nurse is a highly trained expert in the medical field and deals with evidence-based care. Forensic nurses are trained to provide specialized care for victims of violence or other crimes.

They assess the degree and extent of physical and sexual assault-related injuries sustained by victims. Additionally, they guide victims through the process and medical check-ups while providing them with information about their legal rights—so they know how to interact with law enforcement and relevant authorities.

Forensic nursing is a highly lucrative field, and students interested in crime, law, and medical care pursue it successfully. A forensic nurse salary in the US is approximately $90,007 per year on average.

Forensic nurses are also an integral part of many court proceedings and provide consultation for civil or criminal cases highlighting their findings. This can include presenting evidence, describing the crime as it happened in regards to injuries sustained and sharing expert observations—based on the trained knowledge they have gained over the years—in court.

Camp Nurse

Taking up a camp nurse position can be a rewarding way to work outside of the office. Camp nurses are the backbone of any outdoor activity and recreational trips involving children and teenagers. They must be able to take care of injuries and illnesses—big or small like scraped knees, headaches, nausea or difficulty breathing due to change in oxygen levels.

They also collaborate with administration beforehand to ensure supplies needed for daily tasks like medical monitoring or wound treatment are available readily.

As a camp nurse, you can make an average of $52,000 per year or approximately $20 to $40 every hour! Entry-level positions start at $36,344, while most experienced workers earn up to $78,500 annually for their skillset.

Medical Script Nurse

Medical dramas have become a popular genre in television.

Medical script nurses consult with TV and film writers, directors, and producers to accurately portray medical or nursing-related plots. They also work with authors, consulting on how best to portray characters who deal in these fields.

It’s a common misconception that script nurses only work with formulæ. They are also often called upon—in personal capacity—to answer questions from patients and their families, and monitor the progress on any given case by looking at near-final versions of scripts before it goes out into circulation.

Medical script nurse salaries vary greatly, with the majority ranging between $34,500 and $91,000. The highest-paid nurse can earn up to $117,500 annually across America.

Salary depends on a number of factors such as the budget of the project, their expertise and the ability to be creative in terms of guiding the writing.

Hyperbaric Nurse

For many years, divers have been using hyperbaric chambers to treat decompression sickness. But this therapy also benefits those who are not in the ocean as it can help with diabetes and other chronic conditions.

A hyperbaric nurse is a clinical expert in treating and diagnosing patients who have responded poorly to an altered environment. To better understand these responses, hyperbaric nurses are trained in and familiarize themselves with the complexities of chronic diseases such as high blood pressure or carbon monoxide poisoning.

Hyperbaric nurses are on-site at the hospital or specialized treatment facilities to help physicians establish a hyperbaric treatment plan. The patient will be put in one room, while an airlock separates them from medical staff members who prepare it for two hours at most–usually about three or four total.

They guide the patient through breathing exercises that reduce ear pressure and dizziness symptoms after therapy ends with decompression procedures.

Hyperbaric nurses have annual salaries that range from $69,000 to over $80,000 per year.

Conclusion

Not all nurses work tirelessly inside hospitals. If you’re looking for a nursing specialty that will challenge and excite you, these specialties are a perfect place to start. The forensic nurse works in law enforcement, often collecting evidence from victims or crime scenes. A camp nurse provides care at summer camps all over the country.

In contrast to these two positions, mostly outdoors, medical script nurses work indoors with film and TV crews, while hyperbaric nurses manage patients undergoing oxygen therapy.