Ambulatory Care Nurse

What an Ambulatory Care Nurse Does

Ambulatory care nurses focus on caring for and helping treat patients who have chronic injuries or illnesses and helping them to live more mobile, independent lives. They often meet with patients outside of the hospital setting, helping them to implement new strategies to get around, work with their disabilities and manage any pain associated with their condition. Ambulatory care nurses can be found working in a wide variety of settings, from helping out the underprivileged in community clinics to providing support for patients with chronic illness in dialysis centers. On a usual day, ambulatory care nurses will access patients, administer medications, develop treatment plans and educate patients. Due to the natures of the illnesses and disabilities they treat, they must often also provide emotional and mental support to their patients. To be successful in this field, nurses will need to be caring and compassionate and have a broad knowledge of many health care specializations.

How to Become an Ambulatory Care Nurse

Working as an ambulatory care nurse can require a good deal of training and certification. First, individuals must complete a state-approved registered nurse training program at the bachelor's or associate's level. This can take anywhere from two to four years and helps to prepare students to work in hospitals and health care facilities of all kinds. Once this training is complete, nursing students should have the knowledge and expertise to pass the NCLEX-RN, a licensing exam required to become a practicing nurse. Registered nurses cannot start working as a certified ambulatory care nurse right after becoming licensed, however. They must work as an RN for two years and log over 2,000 hours of training in ambulatory care. Additionally, nurses hoping to enter this specialization must head back to school for at least 30 hours of additional coursework in ambulatory care. Once this is complete, they can take the certification exam that will allow them to work as a certified ambulatory nurse.

Career Outlook for Ambulatory Care Nurses

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports excellent growth for the nursing profession as a whole but those who choose to specialize in ambulatory care will find growth better than even the national average of 22%. In many communities around the nation, there simply aren't enough nurses to fill available positions and as the population ages, more nurses with this specialization will be needed to help ailing elderly individuals get around and manage their care as they get older. Ambulatory care nurses will be able to find work in a wide variety of settings but some of the best opportunities will be in specialized clinics and physicians' offices. Advancement in this field can be obtained both through experience and through additional training and certification. To stay up-to-date, ambulatory care nurses must also study the latest advancements in their field and may want to take courses that teach them how to implement them to improve both their professional advancement and their patient care.