8 Highest Paying Nursing Jobs
Nurses are invaluable contributors to both society and the healthcare industry. As such, they play many roles simultaneously, caretakers, health advocates, counsellors, coordinators to name a few. While challenging and demanding, nursing makes for a rewarding career path on many levels. As a nurse, you get personal fulfilment by touching lives and making a difference every day, you grow professionally, and develop financial stability. If you are interested in the many opportunities that nursing offers, below we have listed some of the prospects and high-paying nursing roles to look into.
Nursing Job Outlook
While technology may be making quite a number of jobs redundant, nursing has been and will continue to be one of the most secure careers. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the employment of nurses is expected to even grow by 7 percent during the years 2019-2029, which is a faster growth rate than the average for all occupations. This is due to factors such as a collective increase of awareness on the importance of preventive health services, the aging of the baby boomer generation, and growing rates of chronic health conditions.
Apart from the general growing employment rates, nursing jobs have, moreover, one of the highest employment rates in the public sector, with a high number of registered nurses in various nursing specialties. Therefore, it is safe to say that job satisfaction, security, and demand are additional factors that make nursing a lucrative career.
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How Much Do Nurses Make?
There are a number of factors that contribute to a nurse's salary and that can make it difficult to come up with a specific number on the spot. These factors include qualifications, specialized training, experience, location of the job, shift differential and so on, therefore a median annual salary is calculated in order to determine the average.
All factors considered, according to the BLS, in May 2020, the median annual wage for registered nurses was $75,330 or $36.22 per hour. Among these, the highest 10 percent even earned more than $116,230. These numbers further demonstrate that nursing can be a highly rewarding and profitable career.
Highest-Paying Nursing Jobs
The wide range of nursing careers and specialties offer plenty of opportunities for choosing between different types of nursing jobs. When choosing your career path, among other factors that impact your choice, a good financial income is an incentive that can play a significant role in it as well.
After combining data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Payscale, and Income.com, below we have listed down some of the highest paying nursing jobs.
1. Certified registered nurse anesthetist - $183,580
Certified registered nurse anesthetists made it to the top of the highest-paid nursing job list, at a median salary of $183,580 according to the BLS. These nurses work as advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) who administer all types of anesthetics, prepare the setting, and care for patients during various operations and medical procedures. They work together with surgeons, dentists, anesthesiologists, and other doctors to provide assistance to patients’ recovery from anesthesia.
This position requires a minimum of a license in the state of practice as a Registered Nurse and a completed master’s in nursing (MSN) or a doctor of nursing practice (DNP.)
2. General nurse practitioner - $111,680
A general nurse practitioner is also an advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) that requires a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and a Master of Science in Nursing Degree (MSN), with additional certifications in the field. While there may be a significant number of requirements for this role, its second position in our list of the highest paying jobs in nursing makes it a profitable and rewarding one. According to BSL, the median salary for General Nurse Practitioners is $111,680.
A general nurse practitioner’s role lies in serving as a primary and specialty care provider and working directly with patients by providing care, conducting check-ups, treating illnesses, giving diagnoses and advice, and so on. Apart from general care, the role of a nurse practitioner can further branch out into more specialized areas such as family nurse practitioners, neonatal nurse practitioners, adult-gerontology nurse practitioners etc.
3. Certified nurse midwife - $111,130
Certified nurse midwives (CNM) are nurses whose specialty focuses on providing care in the area of women’s health, gynecological services, reproductive health, performing check-ups in pregnant patients, delivering babies, and providing prenatal and postpartum care for them.
Certified nurse midwives are always in demand due to the nature of their work and their high degree of work responsibility. For this reason, they have one of the highest incomes in nursing, which according to the BSL stands at a median of $111,130.
4. Clinical nurse specialist - $108,858
Clinical nurse specialists are clinicians with advanced education and training in a specialized area of nursing, whose duties include providing expert consultation for the nursing staff, evaluating its practices, analyzing patient data, and conducting new research depending on their specialty.
According to salary.com, this is also a well-paid nursing job, with clinical nurse specialists making a median annual salary of $108,858.
5. Psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner - $108,630
According to salary.com the median salary for psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioners (PMHNPs) is $108,630, making it a lucrative career choice for nurses that want to specialize in mental health care. This type of nursing job consists of assessing, diagnosing, and treating patients with mental health or substance abuse disorders.
6. Nursing administrator - $104,280
The duties of a nursing administrator can vary depending on their specialty, but in general, this is a leadership role that involves overseeing the nursing staff, supervising assistant administrators, keeping records of the services and resources of the facility, and staying up to date and adapting to healthcare laws and regulations.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual wage for medical and health services managers, which includes nursing administrators, is $104,280; a profitable salary and fitting job for nurses who excel at managerial roles.
7. Pain management nurse - $99,034
As nurses who work directly with patients that need relief from pain or trauma, a pain management nurse’s duties involve assessing the patients’ causes and extents of acute and chronic pain, closely cooperating with doctors to suggest treatment plans, administering medications, and suggesting other methods of pain relief.
This nursing job scored a median of $99,034 according to salary.com. This is quite a rewarding salary for those who wish to complete the typically-required Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program or an Associate’s Degree in Nursing (ADN,) to then specialize in this career through other certifications and examinations for licensure.
8. Neonatal intensive care nurse - $93,122
Neonatal intensive care unit nurses (NICUs) are those responsible for the care of newborns, from their birth and up until the age of two. This job calls for empathetic and compassionate individuals whose duties include bathing, weighing, and measuring infants, checking their vital signs, as well as educating new parents on breastfeeding and childcare.
Helping bring new life into the world is certainly priceless but the generous median salary of $93,122 is an additional incentive to the gratification that comes with the job of a neonatal nurse.
While there is undoubtedly much more to nursing than one’s salary, these highest paying roles are not coincidentally some of the best nursing jobs as well, as they are simultaneously challenging and rewarding. Therefore, if you are looking into taking the next step in your nursing career, these jobs are definitely worth considering.