10 Highest-Paid Nursing Jobs

If caring for others is important to you, then you should consider a career in nursing. But being a caregiver isn’t enough for many. Having enough money to pay the bills rounds out the professional checklist pretty nicely.

So, how do you find a nursing job that pays well? We’ve compiled a list of the best-paying nursing jobs you can find. If you’re interested in a career as a nurse, you should get paid well for all of your efforts, and one of these jobs might just be where you want to put your professional efforts.

Here are the 10 Highest-Paid Nursing Jobs

Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist

Average Yearly Salary: $115,000

A Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) requires a lot of education (a minimum of a Master’s degree), extensive clinical training, and they have to be certified.

If you’re assuming that these nurses deal with a lot of surgical patients, you’re right. They’re often there to care for patients before, during, and after surgery as they watch over the medications they’re prescribed and the anesthesia itself. But that’s not all they do. CRNAs also assist people who have had accidents or trauma. They work in dental offices, emergency rooms, and cardiac care units.

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Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner

Average Yearly Salary: $114,000

Not all nurse practitioners work in general medicine; many of them specialize and pursue the field of medicine that most interests them. If you find that the field of psychiatry or mental health appeals most to you, then being a psychiatric nurse practitioner might be a good career fit for you.

Again, this profession requires significant education, including a Master’s of Science in Nursing or even a Doctoral Nursing Degree. It’s true; you can get a doctorate in nursing, which definitely affords you the opportunity to make a significant income and can open many different professional pathways.

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Nurse Practitioner

Average Yearly Salary: $94,000

General nurse practitioners, like CRNAs, need an advanced degree, and they fall into the category of advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs), who provide specialized health care.

Nurse practitioners share many of the same responsibilities that doctors do. They diagnose and treat illness which includes prescribing medication. Although, the state that the nurse practitioner practices can have a lot to do with their authority to diagnose and treat.

If this appeals to you, you’ll have to earn a Master of Science degree in Nursing, and then you’ll need to pass a certification exam. It’s a lot of work, but in the end, you’ll be working one-on-one to help people, and you’ll have a lot of authority.

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Certified Nurse Midwife

Average Yearly Salary: $93,653

For those interested in working with women and babies, midwifery might be the path to take. A certified Nurse Midwife isn’t just there to assist with birth; they’re qualified to serve as a primary health care provider to women throughout their lives. They tend to focus on gynecological and family planning, but they can provide primary care, prescribe medications, and can offer some counseling services.

CNMs are also APRNs, meaning this is another profession where you’re going to need that advanced degree; a master’s or higher is necessary. Then, there are also accreditations, and certain state certifications might also be required.

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Family Nurse Practitioner

Average Yearly Salary: $93,000

For those interested in the broad scope of health, family medicine might be the answer. Family nurse practitioners are trained to work with both adults and children and focus on general preventative care and run-of-the-mill illness. In many situations, they work under a doctor and will often compare notes with the doctor, but they get to treat patients on their own.

Like all nurse practitioners, family nurse practitioners are APRNs and will need that advanced degree to do the job. There’s a lot to know to serve in this type of position because it’s so broad-based. You may also find yourself working in an underserved community, so it’s good to understand the neighborhood you work in and if there are any unique needs.

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Gerontological Nurse Practitioner

Average Yearly Salary: $84,761

Gerontological nurse practitioners or Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioners have advanced degrees, and they focus on working with an elderly population. This is a field that’s expected to boom as we have more and more people reaching their 80s and 90s and even beyond.

According to the American Nurses Association, these nurse practitioners focus on the process of aging and the protection, promotion, restoration, and optimization of health and functions in older adults. If that sounds like something you’re called to do, you may find this job professionally and emotionally satisfying as well as financially rewarding.

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Intensive Care Unit Nurse

Average Yearly Salary: $70,000

ICU Nurses are also called critical care nurses. They’re highly specialized and are there to deal with immediate, urgent, and life-threatening situations. There is a growing demand for these nurses, and if you love a fast-paced environment and ever-changing challenges, then you might find that this is the best profession for you.

If you’d like to be even more specialized, there are ICU nurses who focus on post-op care, pediatrics and neonatal units, and cardiac teams.

To become an ICU nurse, you’ll need to be a registered nurse, then get your bachelor’s in nursing or a doctorate in nursing. After that, there will be a lot of specialized training, including certifications for the field that most interests you.

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Clinical Nurse Specialist

Average Yearly Salary: $69,000

If you’re noticing that the highest-paid nursing jobs require a master’s degree or even a doctorate, and they’re considered APRNs, then you’re absolutely correct. Education is the best way for a nurse to make top dollar and to advance professionally.

A clinical nurse specialist is another APRN with a master’s or a doctoral degree in nursing. They can work with patients directly, diagnosing and treating them, but they often select a specialty to focus on. Some of their specialties can include: pediatrics, geriatrics, women’s health, psychiatry, rehabilitation, wound care, pain management, oncology, critical care, and others.

Clinical nurses aren’t just there to treat patients; they’re also charged with keeping an eye on health care in their system. They find gaps in the care continuum, educate others on best practices, and may be requested to do research or deal directly with families.

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Neonatal Nurse

Average Yearly Salary: $68,000

Neonatal nurses work in intensive care units (NICUs) and deal with sick and premature babies on a regular basis. It’s not just the children these nurses take care of; their compassion, knowledge, and experience will go a long way to helping parents and other families through these critical times.

Being a NICU nurse is one of the higher-paying nursing jobs that don’t require a degree beyond a bachelor’s in nursing. But this profession does require a certain type of person who can handle a lot of stress and has an unlimited amount of empathy and compassion.

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Pain Management Nurse

Average Yearly Salary: N/A

The entire field of pain management is growing as more and more people report living with chronic or acute pain. These medical health practitioners are responsible for finding solutions to pain through medication or other therapeutic methods.

Pain management nurses do not need any degree beyond being a registered nurse, but they need to find a way into the pain management field and begin focusing on that type of care. Due to the opioid epidemic, having a pain management nurse with some experience in pharmaceuticals is highly beneficial.

Types of Nursing Degrees

It’s clear that the more education you have in the nursing field, the higher your earning potential would be.

Nursing degrees can be confusing; a certified nursing assistant certificate can be earned as early as four to 12 weeks, while at the other end of the spectrum, a doctor of nursing practice degree is another two years of school after you’ve earned a bachelor’s degree. And, no matter what the education, they’re all often just referred to as nurses.

Here is a list of the basic degrees associated with nursing:

Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) – $27,000 – $39,000 annual salary
Licensed Practical Nurse/Licensed Vocational Nurse (LPN/LVN) – $34,000 – $58,000 annual salary
Registered Nurse (RN) with Associate Degree in Nursing – $49,000 – $75,000 annual salary
Registered Nurse (RN) with Bachelor of Science in Nursing – $54,000 – $84,250 annual salary
Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) with Master of Science in Nursing – $82,000 – $110,000 annual salary
Doctor of Nursing Practice or PhD in Nursing – $104,500 – $125,500 annual salary

Of course, within each of those fields may be the opportunity to specialize and earn certifications and experience in one given area. Each additional degree may provide more opportunities for advances in income.

Another big consideration in pay is the experience the nurse has. Obviously, a nurse fresh out of school is going to make less because they don’t have any experience yet, while someone who has been in the field for several years will earn more money and theoretically be more valuable to the patients and the medical facility.

Never miss an opportunity that’s right for you.

Author

Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.

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