In this day and age being able to find a job that pays enough to be able to support yourself, your family if necessary, and to be able to put some away for longer term goals is really the driver for a lot of people. But when it comes to a job in the medical industry, specifically nursing you are pretty much guaranteed that your position will pay a good wage and even an excellent wage depending on a few factors.
Within the nurses profession there are different levels of education and certification that can affect salary levels. There are also other factors such as specializations, where you live, which medical institution your work in etc.
For example, as a nurse in California after training at a California nursing school your salary can vary. Licensed practical nurses LPNs, can earn about $36,000 a year while registered nurses, RNs can earn about $48,000 a year. If you are a nurse practitioner, NP, your responsibilities will increase along with your salary. As your duties increase to include seeing patients, treating minor illnesses as well as writing prescriptions your income can go as high as $70,000. Nurse anesthetists can earn as much as $105,000.
Where you work also affects your income. As a resident RN you could make about $42,000 per year, whereby as a pediatric nurse you can earn about $56,000 per year. As a travel or telemetry nurse you might earn around $64,000 per year. And critical care nurses can earn about $65,000.
As an oncology nurse, you can earn about $66,000 per year, while if you get into the intensive care unit (ICU) you earn about $68,000 per year. While if you decide to get into emergency room nursing, you can earn an average salary of between $72,000 and $74,000 per year.
There are other opportunities to increase your nursing salary. You could be offered shift premiums or depending on the environment or policies of the institution you could be paid overtime as well.
Private nursing jobs can end up being very well paying. You could have the chance to work for an individual client who has the financial means to be an above average nursing salary in order to ensure the top care that their money can buy. This could provide shorter hours, or longer hours if you end up taking a position as live in primary health care provider.
Other benefits that can influence overall earning potential include benefits, holiday pay, vacation allowances and yearend bonuses. These are all things that you need to find out before you start working anywhere. Ask what the internal policies are on other incentives that would affect your salary. Perhaps there are even other perks offered that don’t have direct monetary value but can save you money in other ways such as providing staff meals, offering in house daycare etc.
But no matter where in the US you end up working, there is a lot of potential to earn very good money and to also continue to increase your earning potential by continuing your studies and increasing your responsibilities.