People outside the healthcare system often don’t realize how massive even a relatively small hospital can be in terms of employment opportunities. They create hundreds of jobs within a community. Some of them are obvious and public-facing. Doctors. Nurses. The technicians that at least half of all patients mistake for nurses.
But there are also dozens of other specializations or behind-the-scenes jobs that go into making any hospital run.
What does it take to work in healthcare? In this article, we take a comprehensive look at the most rewarding roles in healthcare and the degrees that you will need to get those jobs.
Do You Need a Degree to Work in Healthcare?
No! In fact, you might be surprised to learn that most people working in a hospital do not have—or at least do not need to have—a bachelor's degree. Technicians, as mentioned above, can work with only an associate’s degree. Sometimes, they may even only have a professional certification earned outside of college.
There are also sanitation roles, food preparation jobs, and other positions that help the hospital run without involving patient care.
These jobs can be good for people who think they might be interested in a healthcare career but aren’t quite sure what they want to do. With these entry-level positions, you can get a good sense of what jobs are out there, and what sort of people work them.
And of course, there is nothing wrong with deciding that you want these jobs to become your full-time career!
Technician
Technicians are the ones who go into hospital rooms with big carts full of complicated equipment. They may take patients’ blood pressure or other vital signs. As mentioned in the introduction, rare is the patient who does not simply assume that they are another nurse.
To work as a patient care technician you only technically need a high-school diploma, though many hospitals will prefer applicants with college-level training courses under their belt. You can take these at many community colleges.
Many people will use their technician role, supported by an associate's program, to transition into nursing. Many of the community college classes that you can take to become a technician will fulfill the prerequisites needed for nursing.
Nurse
Nurses are arguably the most important point of contact that most patients have in the hospital. Yes, doctors do the higher-level decision making but it is the nurse that will explain those decisions to the patient.
They generally establish intimate connections with people on their caseload and provide a balanced dose of medical care and emotional support for the people they work with.
To become the sort of nurse that you see working on a hospital floor, you need to first acquire your BSN—the bachelor’s degree for nursing—and then pass the NCLEX—a standardized test that all nurses must take before becoming licensed.
From there you can then begin working in the hospital environment. If you would like to specialize, there are also tons of opportunities to do that—usually presented in the form of specialized certifications.
For example, forensic nurses, flight nurses, nursing educators, school nurses, and many other jobs will require advanced education.
In many cases, you will be able to begin working in these jobs on a trial basis as you complete the course requirements. Once you become fully certified, you may enjoy additional responsibilities or better pay.
Nurse Practitioner
Nurse practitioners are nurses who have gone on to get a master’s degree in Advanced Practice Nursing. NPs have the opportunity to specialize, focusing only on what interests them the most about healthcare. If you are passionate about psychiatric care, you might become a psychiatric nurse practitioner.
If you love working with babies, you might become a neonatal nurse practitioner. If you are more interested in the preventive side of medicine, you might become a primary care NP.
Like any other nursing career, there are many directions you can take this job. Technically, you can start working on your master’s degree immediately following graduation from an undergraduate program. However, many people will wait.
You may find it helpful to spend some time in the trenches as a nurse so you can discover your preferences first.
Administrative Roles
The unseen and often unsung heroes of the healthcare world. Administrators make high-level decisions about how hospitals should be using their resources. You can start working as an administrator with only a bachelor’s degree related to medicine.
However, high-level administrators almost always have an MHA—master’s degree in healthcare administration.
Conclusion
There are so many different ways to work in the healthcare setting. You don’t have to spend fifteen years becoming a doctor to make a difference. Interested in making the transition, but not sure what to do next?
There are two steps that can help get you where you need to be. First, consider doing a shadow day at your local hospital. This will give you a behind-the-scenes look at what it is like to be a healthcare worker. It will also give you a more nuanced perspective of the various jobs we described in this article.
All jobs are more complicated in practice than they are in theory, but this is never more true than in healthcare. You can read about the stresses and rewards of working in a hospital all day, but you won’t really know what it is like until you’ve seen it in action.
The other step? Start researching programs. Finding the right school can take months, particularly if you want to do your due diligence in exploring all of the many online programs that are out there. The best time to start is now!
