When you are bound for a career in the healthcare sector but can’t decide on one, it can get frustrating. With each pathway offering its unique set of perks, you can find yourself puzzled at the end of the day. But fortunately, that question is what this piece is here to answer.
If you have boiled down your career choices to masters in public health or nursing, you have come to the right place. The key to understanding any field is knowing the pathways you can take and the jobs you will be performing in those capacities. However, since the nature of work similar, there shouldn’t be a complete shift in roles.
Here is what you should expect from these professions to help you weigh your choice. Hopefully, you will be of a singular mind by the time you get done with reading this.
1. The Role of Public Health Workers
Public health workers shoulder a broad range of responsibilities in the community. From policymaking activities on a federal level to providing healthcare services to individuals, they have their hands full. So you can choose the nature of work that aligns with your interests.
The idea behind this profession is to promote better health standards across societies and achieve a healthier environment. It needs no mention how tremendous its scope of responsibilities is, but so is the nobility associated with it.
And its contribution right now is even crucial since humanity is in dire need of efficient healthcare services. Perhaps that is why even more individuals are taking a keen interest in this area.
The education for this field follows the same pattern, but it is best to aim for the terminal program if you wish to unlock all options. A master’s in public health should be your priority if you are planning your career around it.
And now, you can even pursue it if you have other occupations or commitments after graduation. Several reputable institutes offer an online MPH program that lets you complete the same thing remotely. That maximizes your chances of growth and progress in this profession.
2. Career Pathways with a Masters in Public Health
What can you do with an MPH? Once you start exploring you will find that there are many career options out there but the variety can be confusing. Here are the job parameters of some of the top picks.
Healthcare Administrators
As an administrator, you have employment opportunities at hospitals, clinics, centers for social well-being, and other healthcare facilities. You will be working in a position of authority, delegating tasks, and looking after their smooth execution.
Resource management, budgeting, and maintaining a positive PR will also fit into your job description, alongside running the system. And if it serves your employer’s best interests, you might even have to organize collaborative ventures as well. You can expect an annual income of over 65,000 USD in exchange for these services, growing as you promote.
Public Health Educator
If you wish to make changes from the ground up, a public health educator should be your ideal pick. You can work with NGOs, government agencies, and other public and private organizations serving the same purpose as you.
Your job will require you to identify the health and concerns of society and work on eradicating them. It will involve preparing lectures and slides of your ideas so that your audience can understand and implement them. Best get done with your homework beforehand to answer questions related to it as you can get plenty of them. The pay for these services is north of 45,000 USD a year.
Health & Safety Engineer
For people with more technical interests, a career to pursue is health and safety engineering. In this sector, you will be developing machinery, equipment, and systems that improve health and prevent diseases. Your employers will likely be construction companies, technology companies, or the government.
So from devising plans and designing devices to successful installment, everything is your domain. And this job should get you a salary of over 76,000 USD per annum.
3. The Role of Nurses
The role of nurses is no mystery, but knowing the scope of opportunities might surprise you. For any random individual, nurses perform recurring duties or look after providing elementary healthcare services, but there are many levels. You can find nurses preparing beds for patients and also see them in administrative roles, running entire facilities by themselves.
The goal of nursing remains the same, providing quality healthcare and improving health standards. The actions of a nurse will be to provide comfort so they may relieve patients of the pain. So what remains that sets them apart from one another? The answer to that is their nursing education.
Potential candidates might join the field from an early stage in their education and lose the motivation to pursue things ahead. However, those with a BSN or master’s can expect to gain a wide array of opportunities. Similarly, going further than being an APRN with an MSN to DNP online, you can take a more vital position in the industry. Look into the details of these with the career pathways.
4. Career Pathways with a Masters in Nursing
These are some of the top career pathways in the line of nursing that should grab your attention.
Nurse Researcher
Research has become one of the most popular areas of healthcare due to growing illnesses and diseases. A master’s in nursing allows you to take on this responsibility and intercepting future health threats besides fighting the existing ones. You can do this from private and public health facilities and expect to earn 95,000 USD per annum.
Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner
Nurse practitioners offer support against mental health issues to mentally challenged and abused individuals. They provide care, comfort, and attempt to synchronize their patients with the norms of society. The treatments are slow and have a fluctuating success rate, but get rewarded with a per annum income of over 100,000 USD.
Nurse Educator
People joining healthcare so that they may draw attention and spread awareness about healthcare can become nurse educators. As the name suggests, you will be working with the upcoming generation of doctors to achieve a healthier, secured future. While performing these services, you can expect to make around 100,000 USD a year.
Summary
That sums up your introduction to each of these fields and how you can navigate through them. While they may overlap in some areas, there is a clear difference in their work nature.
Both professionals can preach what they have learned, but they will have to pick a side besides that. Health workers have better prospects with devising policies and devices for a healthier future, as nurses look after their care and support.
