About 128,000 nursing jobs were available in 2004 in the United States, according to a survey conducted by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. Since the 1990's, nursing jobs have grown steadily- in fact at a higher rate than other jobs. Especially in California and Florida nursing jobs have seen the highest job growth rate. If you are considering job opportunities in nursing, based on your interests and aptitudes several different nursing jobs are available.

Registered nurses deal with providing treatment to patients, informing them about diseases and giving moral support to the patients' relatives. These jobs also require maintaining records of the medical histories and symptoms of patients they work with and conduct diagnostic tests on. Registered nurses also provide medications and treatment and assist patient follow-up and therapy.

Nursing aides are also called geriatric aides, nursing assistants, certified nursing assistants, orderlies, hospital attendants or unlicensed assistive personnel. Nursing aides carry out day-to-day tasks under the guidance of medical and nursing staff. These jobs require conveying messages, serving meals to patients, making their beds and helping them with eating, grooming and walking. Nursing aides measure body temperature, respiration rate, pulse rate, and blood pressure. They tidy up rooms of patients, lead them to examining and operating rooms. Nursing aides also involve monitoring their physical, psychological, and emotional conditions and reporting any variation.

Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs), also called Licensed Vocational Nurses (LVNs), look after the sick, wounded, disabled and recovering as per the guidance of physicians and registered nurses. LPNs with experience oversee the activities of nursing assistants and aides.

LPNs commonly provide basic bedside care, measure vital signs, give enemas and injections, dress wounds, check catheters, care for bedsores, give massages and alcohol rubs and report unfavorable reactions to medications. These nursing jobs require feeding patients, carrying out day-to-day laboratory tests, and measuring food and fluid intake and output. LPNs also maintain the personal hygiene of patients and help them in bathing and dressing.

A few LPNs assist in delivery, caring for and feeding infants. They also manage schedules of doctors in their offices and clinics. Apart from the above duties, LPNs working in nursing care facilities assess residents' needs, prepare care plans and manage nursing aides. LPNs employed in private homes cook meals and educate family members on basic nursing jobs.

This type of nursing jobs requires supervising licensed practical nurses, registered nurses and other nursing personnel to make sure patients receive good health care. Other aspects of a head nurse's job consist of making policies, budgeting, inventory management, synchronizing nursing services with other health services and recruiting nursing professionals. Head nurses commonly find jobs in clinics, hospitals, nursing homes and nursing agencies.

Home health nurses provide care to elderly, recovering, or disabled persons enabling them to stay in the comforts of their own homes rather than having to move into a health care facility. They administer oral medications under the supervision of medical or nursing staff. These nursing jobs require measuring respiration rate, temperature and pulse rate of patients. Home health nurses tidy up rooms of patients, help with artificial limbs, change dressings, give them massages and rubs, or help them with a given set of exercises. Nurses with experience may help with equipment such as ventilators.

In home health facilities, a physical therapist, a registered nurse, or a social worker usually defines the duties of home health nurses. The nurse informs the concerned medical staff of any variation in the patient's condition.

Nurse practitioners are involved in giving essential, primary healthcare. They detect and provide treatment for commonly occurring severe diseases and injuries. They are also allowed to prescribe medicines, though rules differ from state to state.

• Nursing Continuing Education - CEU information, requirements, and online courses.

• Nurse-Recruiter.com

• 4nursingjobs.com

• nursingworld.org