Registered Nurses
Health ScienceO*NET 29-1141.00United States
Assess patient health problems and needs, develop and implement nursing care plans, and maintain medical records. Administer nursing care to ill, injured, convalescent, or disabled patients.
- Median annual earnings
- $97,284
- Projected change
- +8.7%
- Typical education
- Bachelor's degree
- Employment
- 3.47M jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
55.9% of the workforce
Growing to 3.77M by 2035
Explore this career by location
Compare nationwide estimates with state or county job-market data.
Showing United States
Loading available locations…
Build the skills
ASU learning related to this career
These courses and certificates are connected through catalog career relationships and Lightcast skill tags.
Loading related ASU learning
The work
What registered nurses do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- Record patients' medical information and vital signs.
- Administer medications to patients and monitor patients for reactions or side effects.
- Maintain accurate, detailed reports and records.
- Monitor, record, and report symptoms or changes in patients' conditions.
- Provide health care, first aid, immunizations, or assistance in convalescence or rehabilitation in locations such as schools, hospitals, or industry.
- Consult and coordinate with healthcare team members to assess, plan, implement, or evaluate patient care plans.
- Direct or supervise less-skilled nursing or healthcare personnel or supervise a particular unit.
- Monitor all aspects of patient care, including diet and physical activity.
- Modify patient treatment plans as indicated by patients' responses and conditions.
- Instruct individuals, families, or other groups on topics such as health education, disease prevention, or childbirth and develop health improvement programs.
- Conduct specified laboratory tests.
- Observe nurses and visit patients to ensure proper nursing care.
- Assess the needs of individuals, families, or communities, including assessment of individuals' home or work environments, to identify potential health or safety problems.
- Prepare patients for and assist with examinations or treatments.
- Work with individuals, groups, or families to plan or implement programs designed to improve the overall health of communities.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $68,460
- 25th percentile
- $79,944
- 50th percentile
- $97,284
- 75th percentile
- $112,340
- 90th percentile
- $138,278
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $97,284 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+8.7%faster than average
20253,471,661 jobs
2035 projected3,774,431 jobs
302,770 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- Bachelor's degree
- 55.9%
- Certificate
- 22.5%
- Associate degree
- 19.4%
- Master's or Professional degree
- 1.4%
- High school diploma or less
- 0.8%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Quality Control Analysis
- Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Registered Nurses167,708 postings
- 02Medical Surgical Registered Nurses55,663 postings
- 03Home Health Registered Nurses35,472 postings
- 04Operating Room Registered Nurses33,360 postings
- 05Emergency Room Registered Nurses31,116 postings
- 06Labor and Delivery Registered Nurses26,920 postings
- 07Registered Nurse Case Managers24,722 postings
- 08Hospice Registered Nurses21,621 postings
- 09Travel Registered Nurses21,338 postings
- 10Telemetry Registered Nurses20,990 postings
- 11Medical Surgical Travel Registered Nurses18,992 postings
- 12Emergency Department Registered Nurses17,701 postings
- 13PACU Registered Nurses16,669 postings
- 14Oncology Registered Nurses15,051 postings
- 15Emergency Room Travel Registered Nurses13,299 postings
- 16Pediatric Registered Nurses11,717 postings
- 17Step Down Registered Nurses11,528 postings
- 18Medical Surgical Telemetry Travel Registered Nurses11,444 postings
- 19Registered Nurse Supervisors11,242 postings
- 20Medical Surgical Telemetry Registered Nurses11,031 postings
Top employers
- 01Soliant Health36,480 postings
- 02Aya Healthcare29,575 postings
- 03HCA Healthcare22,566 postings
- 04AMN Healthcare18,660 postings
- 05Sanford Health16,969 postings
- 06CHRISTUS Health15,516 postings
- 07Mercy14,990 postings
- 08Titan Medical14,334 postings
- 09Supplemental Health Care12,906 postings
- 10Trusted Health12,695 postings
- 11Incredible Health11,836 postings
- 12Medical Solutions11,586 postings
- 13Albany Medical Center11,394 postings
- 14Triage Staffing10,855 postings
- 15Fusion Medical Staffing10,646 postings
- 16Amergis10,311 postings
- 17Ingenovis Health10,226 postings
- 18Providence9,599 postings
- 19MedPro Healthcare Staffing9,354 postings
- 20Accountable Healthcare Staffing8,654 postings
Keep looking