Types of Nursing Degrees http://www.typesofnursingdegrees.org Fri, 17 Feb 2012 06:48:54 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Salary of Professional Nurses http://www.typesofnursingdegrees.org/salary-of-professional-nurses.html http://www.typesofnursingdegrees.org/salary-of-professional-nurses.html#comments Fri, 17 Feb 2012 06:48:54 +0000 admin http://www.typesofnursingdegrees.org/?p=18 Continue reading]]> The profession of nursing are in high demand throughout the country following the overlapping growth of medical facilities and corresponding shortage of health care professionals in various work disciplines. The profession of nursing is believed to be one of the most crucial and hugely expanding career fields in the medical facilities as a whole. Today nursing provides such career opportunity and consistent career growth what many other profession only aspires to reach that level. One of the best parts of this profession is the salary and remuneration the consistent growth of which can be compared with the top professional disciplines in the medical industry. Let us have a brief glimpse at various levels of salary of professional nurses that is paid in accordance with his position and job responsibilities.  But before we go on providing statistics on the salary of professional nurses, let us remind once again that, the salary of professional nurses mainly depends on few factors combined with one another, like, nursing degree and qualification, job place, responsibility and practicing discipline and obviously, professional experience and registration. Actually the real chemistry for a professional nurse to fetch the best salary in the industry is a combination of few important things like higher degree in nursing, better professional experience and industry specific registration and lastly, choice of best health care facility and most demandable discipline of nursing.

Salary of Licensed Practical Nurse or LPN
LPN is the very fundamental professional qualification of nursing and in conformity to that they are paid much lower in comparison to higher professionals. The salary of professional nurses who have been certified as LPN varies between $37480 to $42590, in different health care facilities like, hospitals, nursing care facility, home health care, community care, etc.

Salary of Registered Nurse or RN
When LPN are required to be certified from a certification course in a vocational training or trade school before obtaining their practicing license by passing the national licensing test, to become a registered nurse you at least need to obtain an associates or bachelors degree in nursing before getting your license for professional practice. The salary of professional nurse who have been qualified as RN are paid a salary which varies between $59990 to $70530 in different medical facilities like, nursing home facilities, outpatient facilities, hospitals, home health care facilities, etc.

Salary of Advanced Practicing Nurse or APN
APN are those who have completed master degree level education in nursing and have studied particularly in one focus area of practice and after licensure practices in the same field as a specialist. APNs are the highest paid nursing professionals whose earning varies in accordance with the specialization of practice. Certified nurse anesthetists are highest paid specialist nurse with average yearly earnings of $156032 and the gross early earning of other specialist nurses like, certified nurse midwife, family nurse practitioner and clinical nurse practitioner varies between $91242 to $87867.

Nurse Administrator Salary
Professional positions in nursing administration is very few in number and requires highest academic qualification and a considerable experience in the practice of nursing before becoming a nurse administrator. The salary of professional nurse who have become a nurse administrator is one of the highest in the industry and according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics the top 10% of nurse administrator earns a salary in excess of $140300, while the salary of middle 50% or the highest number of nurse administrator varies from $63700 to $105980.

The above information in regard to the salary of professional nurses in various practicing disciplines and levels proves one strong point which we have already discussed at the beginning of this article, that is, to earn the higher salary in nursing most important consideration is the academic qualification and then the experience factor.

]]> http://www.typesofnursingdegrees.org/salary-of-professional-nurses.html/feed 0 Career Prospect of Various Nursing Degrees http://www.typesofnursingdegrees.org/career-prospect-of-various-nursing-degrees.html http://www.typesofnursingdegrees.org/career-prospect-of-various-nursing-degrees.html#comments Mon, 26 Dec 2011 11:36:14 +0000 admin http://www.typesofnursingdegrees.org/?p=14 Continue reading]]> Higher level of qualification and professional exposure through national level of accreditation and licensing are considered to be the key areas for achieving a growth-driven career in nursing. More crucial and important are the job responsibilities, more it pays and this is being the prevailing rule of career opportunities across the industries, the nursing profession demands higher educational qualification in the discipline and professional competence in various clinical set-ups for a better career prospect to avail. Career prospect of various nursing degrees differ in accordance with the degree level and tested competence in handling the job responsibilities.

Here some of the well known academic degrees of nursing along with their respective career prospect are discussed.

Career Prospect of Associate Degree in Nursing
Among the career prospects of various nursing degrees this is taken to be just the beginning. Associate degree in nursing is the basic degree in nursing education and it is considered to be the minimum requirement of qualifying as a Registered Nurse or RN. By becoming a registered nurse with an associate degree you are entitled to practice as a nurse in any health care facilities but without any further education in the discipline the career options are only limited to the basic job responsibilities as a nurse.

Career Prospect of Bachelor Degree in Nursing
This degree is mostly designated as Bachelor of Science in Nursing and it is the very primary prerequisite for taking the career growth up to the level of supervisory or medium level management positions in various health care facilities. In some cases registered nurse with a bachelor degree in nursing can claim leadership or top management positions in health care facilities by successfully proving his practicing excellence and leadership skills.

Career Prospect of Master Degree in Nursing
A Master degree is the coveted higher education in nursing which offers the best opportunities industry wise in regard to the other career prospects of various degrees of nursing. With a Master degree in nursing under your belt you can easily reach prestigious job positions like, Chief Nursing Officer (CNO), Nurse Administrator in health care facilities or you can qualify in senior positions, like, nurse educator or director of education in nursing educational facilities.

Career Prospect of Doctorate Degree in Nursing
A doctorate degree in nursing is the highest educational qualification in the discipline of nursing and unlike other degrees in nursing it is more focused in the clinical practice and development of the nursing profession. The other career prospects of various nursing degrees cannot be compared with the career opportunities this degree offers. The career opportunities for a doctorate degree in nursing include nursing administrator careers in hospitals, clinics or nursing homes and higher educator positions in nursing education facilities or universities. In respect of consideration of appointing in top level positions in educational as well as health facilities, a doctorate degree always remains to be the first priority.

Nursing profession is increasingly becoming a demandable career option but the above cited difference in respect of career prospect of various types of nursing degrees are important for achieving different career objectives in this discipline.

]]> http://www.typesofnursingdegrees.org/career-prospect-of-various-nursing-degrees.html/feed 0 Types of Nursing Degrees http://www.typesofnursingdegrees.org/types-of-nursing-degrees.html http://www.typesofnursingdegrees.org/types-of-nursing-degrees.html#comments Fri, 16 Dec 2011 05:44:52 +0000 admin http://www.typesofnursingdegrees.org/?p=10 Continue reading]]> The profession of nursing has undergone many changes with the emergence of health care industry as one of the key growth areas in the economic map of the country. The demand for higher education, state of the art practical training in multiple clinical set-up, rigorous study in a particular specialization, these are the modern day demands from an aspirant who want to achieve growth in the nursing profession. In confirming these new industry driven demands the nursing education in the past two decades tended to become more exposed to the particular in-job skills and specialized knowledge. So now there are various degrees with multiple areas of specializations available in USA. Among all the types of nursing degrees in USA, some popular ones are discussed here.

Associate’s Degree in Nursing (ADN)
This degree in nursing is a two year program which can be obtained from a community college or vocational school. An Associate’s Degree in Nursing is the very basic and bare minimum requirement to become a Registered Nurse (RN). In reality, to become a practicing registered nurse the aspirant with a Associate’s Degree does not get much of a career exposure in comparison to other higher level degrees.

Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN)
Except a few high credentials demanding nursing job, this degree is considered to be the proper prerequisite for entering into the career of a registered nursing professional. A Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program spans over 4 years and the degree is obtained from a university or college. From this level of degree in nursing the aspirant is given scopes of hands on training in different clinical set up.

Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)
In order to obtain a Master’s Degree in Nursing, the aspirant has to complete a Bachelor program in nursing or similar disciplines. A Master of Science in Nursing is the prerequisite step towards becoming an Advanced Practice Nurse or APN. Some Masters program in nursing may have a special focus on certain track of practice or specializations.

Doctorate Degree in Nursing
This highest level degree in nursing requires the aspirant to complete Bachelor and Master’s level degree program in nursing prior to the admission in a Master’s level degree program. There are two distinct types and focuses in regard to a doctoral degree in nursing, one is Doctor in Nursing Practice or DNP and the other is Doctor in Nursing Science or DNS. The doctoral program in nursing practice or the DNP program focuses on the clinical aspects and practices of nursing, whereas the doctoral program in nursing science or the DNS focuses on the scientific vocation and development of the profession of nursing.

As specialization became the watch word in respect to any professional discipline, various types of nursing degrees actually exemplifies this modern trend of career focused, professional education. As the above description shows, attaining higher level of degree and focused specialization grossly transform into a better career and growth.

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