Hawaii

If you are looking for a unique and challenging nursing specialty, you might want to consider flight nursing. Traditionally, acute care nurse practitioners provide care to critically ill patients in a hospital's emergency room or intensive care unit.

Flight nurses are acute care advanced practice nurses (ACNP), highly qualified and trained to care for injured people outside of the structured hospital environment. Because of their specialized training, flight nurses are able to assist critically ill and injured patients stranded in any location, be it a roadside or an area of natural or technological disaster. Because acute care nurse practitioners specializing in flight nursing are the first to respond in a variety of critical situations, their jobs are often stressful and physically demanding. The average salary for an acute care nurse practitioner is between $70,000 and $90,000 per year. Flight nurses might receive higher salaries depending on their experience, as well as the location and size of their employer.