What Kind of Nurses Get Paid the Most?
Work as a nurse in the USA in 2019 is in demand. This profession is one of the highest paid. A nurse in America is the doctor’s right hand, and not just a technical assistant who puts injections and bandages wounds.
The number of nurses exceeds 2.6 million. New vacancies appear every year since not only hospitals need such specialists but also schools, various enterprises and institutions. According to analysts, the nursing profession is becoming more and more relevant. This is due to the increase in life expectancy in the country. Home nurses are especially in demand: nurses in the United States also need medical education.
Registered Nurse Salaries in the USA
Not so long ago, the average salary of nurses of lower qualification was not particularly different from that of a nurse of higher qualification. But now there is a significant difference.
The income level of nurses depends on various factors:
- work experience;
- specialization;
- qualification;
- institution status;
- state.
Higher qualification nurses receive the highest salary – $104.1 thousand, the rest of the staff – $8.67 thousand.
Therefore, those wishing to have decent pay for their work are trying to get a full-fledged education. By the way, in the USA, you can get not only a bachelor’s degree in nursing, but also a master’s degree, and even a doctor of science.
What Does a Nurse Do?
A nurse does more than just fill out a card, takes medication in the hospital and puts injections. Her tasks include the management of the medical history, the observation of the nutrition of the sick, and the provision of psychological support to both the sick and the relatives. Often the duties of nurses in clinics include the primary diagnosis of the disease, the appointment of laboratory tests and the primary analysis of the results. Then she reports the collected data to the doctor. The tasks of the nurses include the rehabilitation of the patient.
Nurses are divided into different categories depending on what functions they perform. So, there are doctors who specialize in resuscitation or surgical profile. There are nurses who deal with patients with a certain diagnosis, for example, diabetics or those who suffer from heart disease. A number of nurses work with patients of a certain age, for example, management of elderly patients.
The duties of specialists of this medical qualification can be divided into 5 areas:
- clinical practice;
- trainee training;
- work with analyzes;
- counseling and medical education of the population;
- management of a specific client.
But you can become a nurse only if you have enough practical experience. This is not only an ambulance job. It is also the accompaniment of a heavy patient who is transported from one medical institution to another, and work in a trauma center. A nurse in transportation should be a 100 percent practitioner, able to do many things, provide first aid, etc. American television loves medical programs in which viewers are told about health, first aid, diseases and their symptoms. Such programs often invite nurses who know their business and are able to competently express thoughts. Such nurses are valued in clinics: it is pleasant to any medical institution to have a person flashing by on TV in their staff.