What You Don’t Know About Vascular Nurses (And Why That Should Change)

This year, Vascular Nurses Week takes place from September 11 to September 17. This annual recognition event places vascular nurses in the spotlight, highlighting their unique contributions to both patients and the nursing field. This is important, because unlike other nursing specialties, vascular nursing doesn’t receive a whole lot of attention. In fact, plenty of floor nurses and nurses in other specialties don’t really know what vascular nurses do. To help change that, we want to use this year’s Vascular Nurses Week as a chance to discuss some of the things that vascular nurses do on a day-to-day basis and why vascular nursing might be something for our readers to consider.

What Do Vascular Nurses Do?

Vascular nurses usually work with elderly patients. The reason for this is that vascular nurses are trained to help treat vascular diseases and disorders that typically affect older patients. Peripheral artery disease, carotid artery disease, and venous insufficiency are just a few examples of the conditions vascular nurses encounter on a regular basis. Since so many of the conditions that vascular nurses encounter are preventable with lifestyle changes, they focus more heavily on patient education than many other nursing specialties.

Why Become a Vascular Nurse?

With all the nursing specialties out there, it’s not easy to decide on a specialty to pursue. By learning more about the specialties out there, however, making a decision won’t be nearly as difficult. So, with that in mind, here are three reasons why you might want to consider pursuing vascular nursing:

1. Plenty of Employment Opportunities

Some nursing specialties are only employable in specific settings. Most neonatal nurses, for instance, work in specialized units in a hospital setting. Vascular nurses, on the other hand, can find work in hospitals, nursing homes, private medical facilities, and more. There are even research positions out there for vascular nurses! Since vascular nurses are typically working with elderly patients, home-healthcare positions are available for them as well.