About 3.8 million nurses are registered nationwide as researched in 2020. This makes nursing the largest healthcare profession.
Bureau of Labor Statistics states that the salaries of nurses range from $48,820 per year for licensed practical nurses (LPNs) to about $183,580 for anesthetist nurses. The growth rate for nurse practitioners, midwives and anesthetists have been predicted to about 45% while for RNs and LPNs it has been predicted to be about 6% till the year 2030.
Benefits of an Online Nursing Degree
Career Mobility
You have a broad spectrum after you become a registered nurse. There are many a lot of options and fields where you can work including trauma care, wound career, legal nursing consultant, researcher, teacher, or even a writer.
Good Salary
You can earn a modest amount as nursing professional. A pay for nurses ranges from almost $50,000, up to $150,000. So as you go up the ranks your salary will increase and you can earn a lot.
Good Second Career Choice
One of the most famous second careers is nursing as it offers relatively good wages and how much you earn increases with the hours you work. Many nurses also work on weekends and other holidays thus increasing their earnings. Many professionals become a part time nurse after retiring from first career to supplement income.
Nursing Specialties
Nursing offers about 200 nursing certification that you can earn after specialization. These certifications will not only allow your earn more but also raise the demands for your services.
Patient Populations
As a nurse you can work with different patients including the geriatrics, pediatrics, psychiatric, wounded or burnt patients, pain management or drug dependency depending upon what you are more interested in.
Major Nursing Shortage
As the disease is spreading widely, there is an increase in the number of patients and thus a shortage of nurses. So the demand for nursing professional is increasing. Hospital and other medical facilities need more nurses.
Flexibility
No other job will provide the flexibility that you can get in nursing programs. You can work as part time worker, full time worker or even as a temporary worker. You can select whatever place you want to work at. You can take a break or you can simply work for three days consecutively and they have the four days off.
Personal Satisfaction
This field is respected worldwide. Nurses create a link between the patients and doctors. They manage emergency situations as well as other situations where their role is necessary. They take care of the patients and help them to get well. This gives you a lot of self-satisfaction which is a very important trait for a person.
Different Locations
There are many different locations where you can work after becoming a nurse. You can do a job in hospital located in a city, rural area or the suburbs. Any state or country can give you a job as a nurse and you can even become a freelancer as a consulting nurse.[i]
Types of Nursing Degrees
There are different types of nursing programs including an RN license, an associate nursing degree (ADN), a bachelor of science in nursing (BSN), master of science in nursing (MSN) to become an advanced practice registered nurse (APRN). However, for nurse anesthetists a doctor of nursing practice (DNP) is required. You can also take online nursing programs to get this degree. All of these programs are defined in detail below:
Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN)
This is a 2 year program for people who want to work as RNs. They average annual salary for nurses with this nursing degree is about $71,000. Typically, an AND programs comprises of 64-75 credits. Students in an ADN program learn human anatomy, general microbiology, pharmacology, physiology, healthcare ethics, and other skills required for a nurse.
Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN)
The BSN program is ideal for individuals who want to raise their employment prospects as registered nurses and also to earn more money. This program takes a longer duration 4 years as compared to an ADN program. The salary of a BSN nurse is about $87,000 per year. About 120 credit hours are required in this bachelor’s nursing degree and it takes total 4 years to complete it. An accelerated program pay give you a BSN degree after three years of attending year-round school.
Courses involved in BSN program include health assessment, nursing research, public health, community health, and family-centered health promotion. BSN programs also require about 500 to 1,000 hours of clinical training.
Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)
Individuals who want to go towards nursing education or administration or become APRNs have to do a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN). It takes about 1.5 to 3 years to complete this degree. The average salary is about $97,000 on annual basis. Some accelerated MSN programs may help you to earn this degree in 18 months. MSN students take courses such as disease prevention, nursing strategies, professional values, evidence-based practice, health information management and health promotion. An MSN degree usually comprises of about 36 credits.
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
This program is best for becoming nurse anesthetists and people who want to increase their salaries. You can become leaders in nursing and earn upto $105,000 per year. The length of time required for a DNP program is about 1 to 5 years. The credit hours for this program are around 33 to 43 and you need at least clinical practice of 500 hours. This curriculum includes typical courses such as systems leadership, advanced healthcare policy, organizations theory, and ethics for advanced nursing practice and other courses including evidence-based practice, healthcare leadership and advanced nursing specialties.
Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing
Nurses wanting to work in academia have to take this program. You can earn about $88000 per year after you get this degree. A time of about 3 to 5 years is required for this degree. Typically 64 to 90 credits are required for a Ph.D, in nursing. Typical courses such as health sciences statistics, qualitative and quantitative methods in research in clinical nursing, and theory development and evaluation are included in this program. It also requires a dissertation or residency.[ii] [iii]
[i] https://nursejournal.org/articles/benefits-to-pursuing-a-career-in-nursing/
[ii] https://www.herzing.edu/types/nursing-degrees
[iii] https://www.bestcolleges.com/nursing/
