Advertisement
Advertisement
|
Home :: Career Center
:: Healthcare Career Profiles :: Nursing Career Profiles
Infectious Disease Nurse Specialist - Career Profile |
Career OverviewInfectious Disease Nurse Specialists who focus on the infectious disease treatment and control work, for the most part, in hospitals and nursing homes, where there is the greatest risk of the spread of drug-resistant infections.
In hospitals and nursing homes, Infectious Disease Nurse Specialists serve as policy-makers, administrators, educators, consultants, researchers, and practitioners to monitor and prevent the spread of serious infections.
|
Career RequirementsInfectious Disease Nurse Specialists are required to train as Clinical Nursing Specialists prior to completing any advanced training in the field. They are required to have some advanced training in the nursing field. Most Clinical Nursing Specialists have advanced degrees. Approximately 93% of all CNSs have a Master's Degree or equivalent graduate certificate to compliment their training as an RN.
Infectious Disease Nurse Specialists are required to have an active RN license and typically have a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing to have obtained this qualification.
Specialist training in infectious disease care is a requirement for this profession, typically met by the practical experience of each candidate. Experience is focused on dealing with patients suffering from infectious diseases, including the diagnosis and treatment of these conditions, as well as the administration of patient care, and education of patients, their caregivers, and other staff members as to how to care for infectious disease patients.
Some institutions offer specialist training programs and certification in the care of patients with infectious diseases. More information about training programs and certification is available through the following organizations:
Association of Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology
1275 K St., Ste. 1000,
Washington, D.C. 20005
www.apic.org
American Nurses Credentialing Center
600 Maryland Ave., SW, Suite 100 West
Washington, D.C. 20024-2571
(800) 284-2378
American Nurses' Association
8518 Georgia Ave.,
Ste. 400,
Silver Spring, MD 20910
www.nursingworld.org
|
Advertisement
|
Job OutlookThere is and always will be a need for the effective control and containment of infectious disease outbreaks when they occur and particularly when they prove to be drug-resistant.
Although the expected shift of non-critical patients out of hospitals may lessen the risks and the occurrence of infectious disease outbreaks, the extent to which the elderly population is at risk from such outbreaks is likely to increase as more and more people are move to homes for the elderly and other such centers.
All indications suggest that Clinical Nurse Specialists with specialist skills to work as administrators, policy-makers, educators, researchers, and practitioners to improve the control and containment of infectious disease outbreak will be valuable members of the workforce well into the foreseeable future.
|
Career TrackSee Clinical Nurse Specialist
|
CompensationSee Clinical Nurse Specialist
|
|