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Nursing Salary Projections

By
Nancy Burgess

What kind of income can you expect this year from a nursing job? Find out here!

Nursing is a diverse profession -- there are registered nurses, nurse assisstants, specialty nurses and more! With this diversification comes a broad range of salaries. How much can you plan on making in nursing in the coming year depends on your career path, like what kind of facilities you work in and what education you have. Here's what you can expect to make yearly through 2022.

Registered Nurse

The entry-level education for an RN is an associate’s degree in nursing, though a bachelor's degree is ideal for advancement in the profession. The median full-time salary for a registered nurse is $64,470 or $31.48/hour.

The employment opportunities in the US for RNs is projected to increase 19% by 2022, according to the U.S Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). This means that there will be about 526,800 new RN jobs by 2022.

It is important to note that RNs can become clinical experts in many fields like diabetes, critical care, medical-surgical, patient advocacy, research, dialysis, pain management and many more.

This nursing job projection is based on the growing emphasis in the country on preventive healthcare, the rate of increase of chronic issues like diabetes and obesity, and the direct affect of baby boomers living longer than in the past.

Licensed Vocational Nurses and Certified Nursing Assistants

Licensed Vocational (LVN) or Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN) attend a full year training program. They are important members of the healthcare workforce who work under the guidance of RNs and MDs. Many LVNs work in residential and home health care.

The average annual full-time salary for LVNs is $41,500 or $19.97/hour. The BLS projects a 25% employment growth, or about 182,900 new jobs for LVNs by the year 2022.

Another important healthcare team member is certified nursing assistants (CNA). There are certification programs and a great deal of on-the-job training for this role. CNAs deliver direct patient care.

The projected job growth for CNAs is 21%, or about 321,200 more jobs by the year 2022. The average salary is $24,400/year or $11.73/hour.

Specialty Nurses

There are a few nursing specialties that require education beyond a bachelor’s degree. Nurse anesthetist, nurse midwife and nurse practitioner all require at least a master’s degree. Not only is there an increased rate of employment in the specialty areas but also, the average fulltime salary increases significantly to $96,460 or $46.37/hour, according to the BLS.

The nursing specialties jobs are expected to grow by 31%, or 47,600 new job by the year 2022.