You don’t have to work in an emergency room or even a hospital at all to be a registered nurse. There are literally dozens of specialties designed to suit your interests. What are you passionate about? That’s the operative question.

Of course, adults know that there is a little more to the “follow your dreams” story than most parents are willing to let on. Yes, you can specialize as a nurse. Yes, it will also require a lot of work—and sometimes—money.

How do you narrow down your options and find the path that makes the most sense based on your goals?

In this article, we provide a comprehensive checklist of considerations to keep in mind. Read on for more information.

What Are You Excited About in Healthcare?

There are so many different ways to function as a healthcare worker. You don’t even have to apply your skills to the patient care side of the occasion. There are many positions that involve leadership or administrative responsibilities. Some even require a grasp of analytics. For example, informatics nurses generally work on the strategic end of the equation, using data points to figure out how to most effectively use hospital resources.

There are even education positions. College professors who educate the next generation of nurses. Educators who work with patients to help them understand newly emerged conditions.

What excites you the most about healthcare? That’s the first question you should ask yourself. The answer doesn’t need to be exact. You don’t have to think, “Nothing gets me more excited than the idea of being a diabetes educator.”

It could be a simple thought. I like working with older people. There are nursing specialties that center around geriatric care. I like working with babies. Maybe neonatal is the route to take.

Identify your passion and then build off that.

What Kind of Hours Do You Want to Work?

The punishing schedule that floor nurses encounter is one of the factors that drive people away from the profession. Fortunately, there are tons of RN positions that keep traditional business hours. If you want to work a schedule that is more conducive to family life, there are plenty of routes to consider.

For example, you might think about working as a school nurse. Or you might look into positions that allow you to work from home. Those do exist—even in healthcare. Telehealth gigs. Education roles. Jobs that do not necessarily involve direct patient care but are still highly impactful.

And, of course, not everyone is looking for a 9-5. If you are a night owl but you just don’t like being stuck in the hospital for twelve hours at a time, there may still be great options out there for you.

Forensic nurses work with victims of violent crimes. Because these can happen at any hour of the day—and often occur at night—you could work odd hours. Some people prefer that.

How Much Work Do You Want to Put Into It?

The options can vary pretty extensively. If you want to become a nurse practitioner you will need to go to graduate school. This can take 3-5 years of your life, and will often result in student loans.

Nurse practitioners have a lot more autonomy than standard RNs, and they take home a pretty competitive salary to go with it.

On the other hand, you can still boost your income without getting a new degree. Many nursing positions—in fact, all of the ones we have mentioned, aside from informatics nursing and becoming an NP—can be achieved with a simple certification.

On the other hand, if you want to become a college professor and teach new nurses, that could require you to get a PhD. Some administrative positions—including those that can take you all the way to the C-Suite of your hospital—will also require this credential.

How Much Money Do You Want to Pay?

Obviously, graduate school is not cheap. The amount of money you pay can vary pretty enormously based on the learning institution you choose, but a mid-five-figure to low six-figure end balance certainly is not out of the question.

Certification programs are also not free, but your employer will often pay for them. You may get tuition assistance to attain a graduate degree as well, but this will often depend on what type of degree you are pursuing and how long you have been at your current place of work.

Conclusion

If there is any single takeaway from all of this, it should be that nurses have no shortage of options. We included a fairly comprehensive list of considerations, but that isn’t to say that this article—or any single article, for that matter— provides a complete look at the opportunities available to nurses.

All of this said, there is a pretty good chance that you will start where most RNs do—at the hospital. There are pros and cons to these jobs that could be their own article, but regardless of what you do or don’t like about your first nursing job, it will be a great way to figure out what you are passionate about in the world of health care.