Health and Communication Experts That Support Families from Childhood to Old Age

The demand has never been higher for career paths that make a true difference in the world. Educators, social workers, health care heroes—virtually every state in the country is in an incredible short supply of these professionals. For people who want to make a difference in the world, there are lots of opportunities to take advantage of.

In this article, we take a look at health and communication careers that will involve working with people in every age group. Read on to learn more.

Nurse

Probably the most obvious career choice for people who want to help all segments of the population is that of a nurse. Many people on the outside of health care don't realize quite how many career options nurses really have.

While most BSN recipients will enter into the relatively narrow world of hospital floors and emergency rooms, there are literally dozens of different career paths you can consider with a little bit of specialization.

For example, if you want to work with babies, you can consider neonatal work. If you want to work with the very old, you can consider gerontology care. If you want to work with children at various stages of development, there are more options still. You can work in a pediatrician's office. You can work at a school.

Bottom line: if you want to have as many options as possible for who you help and how you help them, getting a BSN is probably the best and most versatile credential you can consider.

From there, specialization is often a matter of seeking additional certifications—a process that is both cheaper and faster than graduate school.

Every nursing certificate is going to be a little bit different, but the process generally involves finding an opening that interests you, applying for the work, and then satisfying the certification requirements while you work in that new job.

For example, if you wanted to become a diabetes educator, you could most likely get hired at a hospital before you've taken any of the requisite classes. From there, you'll get on-the-job experience while also satisfying any course or testing requirements that the position mandates.

There are dozens of certifications out there, which means nurses who are willing to commit to ongoing education will never run out of career options.

Speech Language Pathologist

Speech language pathologists have a relatively narrow range of focus compared to nurses (who doesn't?). They also occupy a dynamic career path, and they have many, many options in terms of who they can work with.

SLPs will work with young children who are developmentally delayed in communication aspects. They'll work with school-aged children who are suffering from a stammer or even a socially specific communication barrier—for example, anxiety, or even a condition like autism that makes it harder for people to communicate with their peers.

They might also work with older patients who have recently experienced physical trauma, a surgery, or even a stroke. Speech language pathologist schooling years will vary from person to person, but it typically takes 7-8 years from the time you start your undergraduate to the day you receive your master’s.

To become a speech-language pathologist, you'll first need an undergraduate degree. Your bachelor's can be in almost anything, but if you want to enter your master's program without needing to pick up any additional prerequisites, it will help to choose something related to either the science of communication or education.

Graduate programs for SLPs will generally take two to three years to complete and will include both classroom work and practical experience. Once you've finished all of your education requirements, you will still need to pass the Praxis exam to become fully certified.

After that, you'll be qualified to work in private practice, nursing homes and inpatient care environments, hospitals, schools, and more. It's a fast-growing profession that can easily pay six figures.

Family Nurse Practitioner

Nurse practitioners are kind of like a cross between a nurse and a doctor. This is not a clinically endorsed description, but it does give you a rough idea of what these responsibilities will look like. FNPs in particular are very similar to general practitioners. In fact, many people will see FNPs for their annual wellness exams and never know the difference.

They can write prescriptions, perform diagnoses, and even open their own practices in many states. FNPs can see patients at almost any age range, and they get to play an exciting role in helping people on their caseload make long-term health plans and decisions.

To become a nurse practitioner, you will first need to get your BSN and then go on to get an MSN with a specific endorsement in family practice. The graduate portion of your education will typically take 2 to 3 years, though there are undergraduate programs that will bundle both your BSN and MSN requirements into a five to six year package. This can be a great option for college students who already know their next steps.

Gerontology Care

For those with a specific passion for taking care of the very old, gerontology care is an excellent option to consider. Patients in the gerontology bracket of medicine are not necessarily dying, but they are in a physical condition that is not likely to improve.

A very good example of someone who would be eligible for gerontology care is a patient with dementia or Alzheimer's—degenerative conditions that, though not immediately fatal, are also not going to improve.

Gerontology care can take many forms, but it often involves working very closely with patients and their families, sometimes even in the home. The idea is to provide as much comfort as possible for people who are in decline. Though somewhat similar in that way to hospice, gerontology care can last many years.

Nurses or advanced practice nurses who get involved with gerontology care often form very close relationships with their patients. This can make the work more rewarding and also more emotionally intense. Often, they will watch someone whom they have worked with for years decline abruptly and in very serious ways.

Though not for the faint of heart, gerontology care is an excellent way to make an enormous difference in the life of someone who needs it very much.

Conclusion

In health care, there are so many different ways to make a difference. We covered only a small portion of them in this article. If you are interested in a health care career, take a look at the wider world of options available to you.

You'll likely find that there are many dozens of different careers that could be a compelling way to make a difference in your community. The key is to find one that you can be passionate about.