Career paths, mapped by people who took them

Trade the med pass for the build team. You already know why the EHR is wrong; informatics pays you to fix it.

• Become a superuser on your unit
• Volunteer for the next EHR upgrade project
• Look at ANCC informatics certification once you have project hours

The long road. Two to three years of ICU, a competitive application cycle, then a doctoral program that becomes your whole life for three years, and then a very different life after.

• Get CCRN certified
• Shadow a CRNA and get it documented
• Keep your ICU acuity high: programs check

Attorneys need someone who can read a chart the way you do. Starts as a side practice; some make it the whole practice.

• Take an LNC intro course
• Write a work-product sample chart review
• Network with med-mal firms, not job boards

Protocols instead of call bells. Predictable hours, detail-heavy work, and a foot in the door of the research world.

• Get GCP certified (free through NIH/CITI in many orgs)
• Apply to academic centres first: they hire greener
• Highlight any trial patients you've cared for

For the ones who got calmer when the room got louder. High bar, small teams, and the best stories at any nursing gathering.

• CEN or CCRN, then CFRN
• Get transport ride-alongs on record
• TNCC and advanced airway exposure

Move into inpatient psychiatry, withdrawal management, community outreach or supportive housing while building deeper skills in crisis care and recovery.

• Complete mental health first aid and non-violent crisis intervention training
• Look for internal postings in psychiatry or addictions programs
• Shadow a community mental health or withdrawal-management team

Turn the wound rounds you already do into a focused practice across long-term care, home care, clinics and hospital teams.

• Take an accredited wound-care fundamentals course
• Ask to join wound rounds or the skin and wound committee
• Build supervised experience documenting complex wounds and treatment plans

A technical specialty with recurring patients, structured treatment plans and opportunities in hospital, community and home-dialysis programs.

• Confirm practical-nurse scope in dialysis with employers in your province or state
• Strengthen IV, medication and chronic-disease teaching skills
• Apply to programs that provide paid nephrology and machine training

Use your bedside judgment to organize services, support transitions and help patients navigate home care, long-term care or community programs.

• Look for discharge-planning and intake experience in your current role
• Learn the referral systems and community resources in your region
• Target coordinator roles whose scope explicitly includes practical nurses

Bridge to RN when broader scope, more specialties or graduate education are part of the plan. Admission requirements and transfer credits vary by jurisdiction.

• Compare approved bridge programs and prerequisite requirements
• Request transcript and prior-learning assessments early
• Ask your employer about tuition support, scheduling flexibility and return-of-service funding