Cruise Nurse – Career and Education Profile
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If you love to both travel and help people, working as a cruise nurse is a great option, since it combines sunny vacations with medical work.
Job Responsibilities
Cruises nurses work as part of the medical staff on a cruise ship. You’ll get to travel with this job, but much of your time will be spent seeing patients who are ill or injured. All cruise ships employ doctors as well, but as a cruise ship nurse, you’ll be the person to first evaluate a patient and can often treat the patient without doctor involvement. Cruise ship nurses rarely deal with serious medical problems, but instead spend time helping patients suffering from illnesses such as sea sickness and minor injuries. You may also help patients who have prescription problems while traveling or can assist with fitness classes on board. In addition, cruise nurses sometimes have to help the medical team if there is a vacationer in an emergency situation, so you could assist with a helicopter rescue or in a mobile critical care unit if necessary.
Salary and Career Options
Cruise ship nurses typically make $25,000 to $35,000 annually, but keep in mind that when you work on a cruise ship, you’ll pay very little in housing and food costs. Cruise ships most commonly hire RNs, but some also hire LPNs or nurse practitioners, a special kind of advanced practice nurse.
Educational Requirements
In order to work on a cruise ship, you need at least an RN license, which requires a diploma, associate’s degree or bachelor’s degree from an accredited university. Most cruise ships require RNs to have at least two years of experience working at a hospital or physician’s office, and some positions require you to have experience or education in a certain specialty, such as geriatrics or cardiac care.
LPN to RN College Programs
While several schools have online nursing degrees available, few offer LPN to RN programs. What's the good news? We have listed some accredited schools below that do offer the program in addition to schools with other bridge programs available. Find out more information and contact each school by using any of the links below.
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Indiana State University—Indiana State University offers a robust online program designed for LPNs wanting to become registered nurses and earn their BSN degree. Since ISU's credits transfer to over 80 campus majors, this is an ideal program for people wanting to open opportunities for their career down the road. |
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The College Network—The College Network is a partnership with several universities and organizations like the National League for Nursing that focuses on online education and programs, with several courses for nurses or those interested in a nursing career. Specifically, TCN helps students prepare for their PN and RN licensures and move on to earn graduate degrees. |
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Select a subject and degree level, then click "Find My Degree" to browse 100+ online nursing schools offering relevant accredited programs. |
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Walden University—Walden University is typically a graduate school with several masters and doctoral programs available, but they do have BSN and RN to MSN bridge programs available. Walden is based out of Minneapolis and offers several options in transferring your previously earned credits to and from (or even within) the school. |
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Kaplan University—Kaplan University is one of the nation's largest and leading online educators and offers several bridge programs for registered nurses to earn their BSN or MSN degree. If you have previously earned credits, Kaplan makes it easy for you to transfer to any one of their undergraduate or graduate programs. |
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Herzing University—While Herzing University does not offer an undergraduate nursing degree, it is a great choice for working nurses wanting to pursue leadership positions in Nurse Education or Management. With over 10 campuses and 45 online programs available, Herzing has a massive network that makes it easy to transfer to or from the school. |
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