Registered Nurse Salary

 
Overview

Nurses provide health care and solace to patients in physical distress in hospitals, clinics and other health care centers. Nursing in general combines aspects of biology, medicine and psychology to deliver appropriate and timely treatment and care to people in need. Nurses are ranked according to their specialty, degree level, experience, skills and competency. Among many other careers, nursing is also one of the most rewarding and promising careers that ensure good living and respect. Amid all the nursing fields, ‘Registered Nurse’ (RN) is the most predominant of all. They have certifications and are legally allowed to practice nursing. Moreover, their employability is relatively higher as compared to other professions. Nursing can prove to be a well paid job, however, it depends on the specialty that a nurse has chosen and have been trained under. For instance, a school nurse may be not as highly paid as a cardiac nurse or a pediatric nurse. Thus, a registered nurse salary varies and depends on a number of factors.
Requirements
The degree level of the registered nurse accounts for the most important and influential factor that determines the salary that various hospitals, clinics and other institutes will be willing to pay. There are many educational pathways that allow a registered nurse to obtain a proper certification, namely associate degree of nursing (ADN), bachelors in science degree (BSN) and Registered Nurse diploma. All three of these degrees are ranked at different levels with BSN degree being at the top. The statistics show that registered nurses with a BSN degree earns up to $6000 more than graduate nurses.
Compensation
The registered nurse salary also depends on the location where a nurse is working. There is a high tendency of nurses receiving higher salaries in urban areas and hospitals than nurses working in rural areas. The working conditions and locations account up as one of the most dominant factors. Moreover, it also depends on the health care institutes and hospitals where a nurse is employed. Hospitals of high stature and reputation give away higher salaries than others. Among other factors that determine registered nurse salary, experience and nursing specialties are also part of it. On the whole, it must be said that registered nurses in the United States earn somewhere in the range of $60,000 per year.