Nursing Salaries and Career Paths

As a nurse, you are already in high demand.

It's common knowledge the national shortage for nurses will keep increasing as the population lives longer. As a result, any occupation in the nursing field offers job security, and most offer comprehensive benefits package.

But higher positions in the nursing field pay higher salaries, offer more responsibility and prestige, and may be all-around more fulfilling as your long-term career goal. And, as the single largest profession in the health care industry (over 2.5 million RNs), the Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree helps to differentiate which RNs are capable of handling promotion.

RN Salary

Once an RN earns their BSN, a whole new set of opportunities are available. Promotion to higher positions result in higher nurse salaries. These positions include:

• Department head
• Administrator
• Nurse practitioners
• Nurse anesthetists

Median Nurse Salary by city, for those with a BSN degree (Updated 8/09)

While salaries are dependent upon where the company is located and the experience of the RN, level of education is certainly a factor.

Median Nurse Salary by years of experience, for those with a BSN degree (Updated 8/09)

Median Salary by Job title, for those who hold a BSN (Updated 8/09)

The BSN Difference

From the graphs above, you can see that geography, level of education, title, and years of experience all affect a nurse's salary. Overall, a nurse with a BSN tends to earn approximately $6,000 more each year if a BSN has been earned. Over a 20-year career, that equals $120,000.

Find out more

To learn more about the Herzing University Online RN to BSN Bridge program, call 1-866-508-0748 x832 to speak with an Admissions Advisors, toll free. Or, you can request more information.