Nursing is often the go-to career choice for people interested in the healthcare industry but not interested in becoming a doctor or surgeon. However, there are many jobs like nursing that may be a better fit for your specific career goals.
If the healthcare industry is of interest to you, but you’re not sure that nursing is the right fit, this article can help you explore jobs related to nursing that share some of the same functions and may have similar educational components but offer a wider array of career paths with a more specifically designed purpose.
In This Article
What Does it Take to Become a Nurse?
What makes a good nurse? First and foremost, becoming a nurse requires a strong desire to help others. Apart from compassion, communication skills, critical thinking, and attention to detail, nurses must also master a variety of technical skills and knowledge. Because nurses balance interpersonal, clinical, and administrative skills, individuals interested in pursuing the profession should also be adaptable and willing to work within a healthcare team.
What Education Do You Need to Be a Nurse?
The education required to become a nurse depends heavily on what type of nursing you’re interested in. Typically, you will want either an Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) or a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) to open the door to a larger swath of available nursing careers. However, you can also train to become a Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN) to start working in the industry faster while you pursue one of the more advanced nursing degree options.
How to Know if Nursing Alternatives Are Right for You
Ultimately, deciding whether or not nursing is the correct path for you is a personal decision. As you explore your options, consider the following aspects of each non-nursing healthcare job and educational path:
- Pace of daily work. Nursing is often incredibly fast-paced and high-demanding.
- Hours. There are some aspects of choosing the medical field that require hours outside of the “normal” 9-to-5 regardless of how much you may want a more traditional schedule. Nursing is notorious for requiring longer hours and schedules more akin to doctors and surgeons. Some of these alternative options may provide a more balanced work schedule.
- Essential job functions. At the end of the day, what matters most is what you’ll be doing day in and day out. We spend more time at our jobs than we do almost anywhere else in our lives, for better or worse, so you should do your best to choose a career path that aligns with your interests, passions, and preferences. Explore each of the nursing alternatives we listed today and see how the core functions of each stack up against nursing and against your own personal desires.
Alternative Nursing Careers with Direct Patient Care
There are a plethora of programs similar to nursing that you can choose to pursue, which offer some of the same benefits (patient interaction, assisting with care plans, patient management, etc), but require less time in school, or provide unique opportunities to engage with different areas of the healthcare industry. The following roles offer a patient-facing, clinical alternative to nursing careers.
Diagnostic Healthcare Jobs
Some alternatives to nursing can empower professionals to hone in on one specific facet of patient care. In the field of diagnostic medicine, you can choose from a multitude of imaging types, sample collection, and other testing and diagnostic procedures. At The College of Healthcare Professions, we offer a number of healthcare technician programs including:
- Limited Medical Radiologic Technologist (with Medical Assisting Skills). This program focuses on training students to become skilled X-ray technicians while also helping prepare them for medical assistant certification to provide a wider range of post-graduate job opportunities.
- Phlebotomy Technician. Our Phlebotomy Technician program trains students to help prepare them for the vital role of collecting blood from patients for testing and diagnostic purposes.
- Pharmacy Technician. Learn how to assist pharmacists and manage prescriptions for patients in less than a year with our Pharmacy Technician program. Pharmacy techs must be familiar with dosing, medication instructions, and the pharmacy equipment that assists in daily dispensing, measuring, and verifying prescriptions.
- Sonographers are specialists in sonographic equipment, but the educational tracks specific to sonography differ from technician programs in that you will, most frequently, choose a sonography program based on what body part or system you will focus on. For example, there are cardiac sonographers, cardiovascular sonographers, and diagnostic medical sonographers.
Medical Assisting Roles
When nursing is close to the right fit but not quite, medical assisting is a great alternative to explore. As a medical assistant, you have the ability to specialize in a specific area of interest, still get plenty of interaction with patients, and work on the organizational details that keep any medical practice running smoothly.
To become a medical assistant, you need to enroll in a medical assisting certificate program. During your education, you’ll have the opportunity to learn the skills and techniques required to help you prepare for the certification exam. Once you’re a certified medical assistant, you can begin working toward your chosen area of specialization through additional training, pursuing further specialty certifications, or accomplishing other requirements specific to your chosen area.
It’s important to note that specialization is not required in the field of medical assisting. You can remain a general medical assistant and still find work in areas across the medical industry including:
- Clinics
- Hospitals
- Private Practices
Another popular nursing alternative is dental assisting. Dental assisting offers a unique blend of patient care, administrative skills, and specialized technical knowledge to create an exceptional patient experience from start to finish.
Students interested in pursuing a career as a dental assistant can find roles in general dentistry, family dentistry, cosmetic dentistry, or even dental surgery practices after completing their program. If oral health and hygiene is of interest to you, but you don’t want to lose the compassion-centered patient care and relationship building that made you look into nursing as a career option in the first place, becoming a dental assistant may be just what you’re looking for.
If dental assisting isn’t a good fit for you, but you’re interested in the more niche areas of medical care like dentistry, becoming an ophthalmic assistant may be what you’re looking for. Similar to dental assisting or medical assisting, ophthalmic assistants work alongside ophthalmologists to provide a holistic, connected, and caring patient experience. From administrative tasks like scheduling appointments, managing billing processes, and more to preparatory care and compassionate patient communication, ophthalmic assistants get to do a little bit of everything.
Rehabilitation and Physical Therapy Technician Roles
For patient-focused care in non-traditional medical settings, rehabilitation and physical therapy technician roles are an excellent choice. With a unique emphasis on injury management and increased mobility, these roles offer flexibility in choice of workplace and a unique take on healthcare in everyday life.
- Physical Therapy Technician. As a physical therapy technician, you’ll work with patients to create and execute therapy plans alongside PTs. To become a physical therapy technician, you will need to learn not only the specifics of anatomy, but also the ways in which tools and equipment can be utilized to strengthen and heal.
- Rehabilitation Therapy Technician. Our Rehab Therapy Technician program helps to prepare students for the unique challenges of helping patients recover with targeted rehabilitation goals and exercises. You will learn how to work with patients both in recovery from injury and adapting to trauma or disability.
Non-Clinical Nursing Job Alternatives
For some students, the patient care aspects of nursing may have been the area of the medical field they were least interested in. If that rings true for you, consider alternatives that allow you to stay within the healthcare field without requiring you to interact with patients as a function of their immediate care needs.
Medical coding and billing is a fast-growing area of the healthcare industry. It offers impressive flexibility in work environments and is a great fit for those with exceptional attention to detail and organizational skills. It also provides a unique take on the medical field by allowing you to help families navigate the financial burden of healthcare costs through the billing system.
Another great option for potential students who are interested in taking a step away from the patient-care-centered work that a nursing program requires is the area of healthcare administration. If you’ve previously obtained a certificate in medical billing and coding, you can further your education by working toward a bachelor’s degree in healthcare administration, or you can start your medical field education on the path of healthcare administration from the start.
Pursuing Your Medical Career Starts Now With CHCP
Regardless of whether your potential career exploration leads you back to nursing school as a final option or down one of these recommended alternative paths, The College of Healthcare Professions is here to help you pave the way to a fulfilling career in the medical field. Apply today to get started.
