In our recent survey, over 2,500 nursing professionals shared their insights into the profession that they love. We asked about the average nurse salary, salary satisfaction, and benefits they currently have, as well as those they want. Here’s a snapshot of what they said.
Download the 2024 State of the Nursing Profession Guide
What is the average nurse salary in the United States?
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2023 report, average salary for Registered Nurses in the United States is $94,480. However, this varies by gender, location, specialty, and work setting. Nurses with more education typically earn a higher salary, as do nurses living in States like California and New York.
Nurses earn slightly more per year than the average worker in the United States. However, among our recent survey respondents, the mean annual wage in 2023 was $77,204.
Segments that earn the highest salary:
- Males: $89,763
- Have a DNP degree: $117,727
- Have an NP license: $116,136
Male nurses, on average, earn about $13K more annually compared to female nurses. This gap has widened by $3k compared to last year. This is not easy to explain, since the male-to-female ratio is similar across different licenses and specialties.
What are the top 10 highest paid nurse specialties?
- Forensic: $145,000
- Cath lab: $135,000
- Radiology: $110,000
- ICU/CCU: $107,639
- Palliative care: $105,000
- Informatics: $102,292
- Neuroscience: $96,250
- Emergency/urgent care: $96,770
- Risk management/UR/QA: $93,500
- Renal/dialysis: $93,000
Many of these high-paying specialties require advanced certifications, extra years of schooling, or specialty training. For example, the International Association of Forensic Nurses shares that forensic nurses typically need years of experience, hundreds of hours of training, and sometimes even a master’s degree. Similarly, ICU nurses are often paid more because they have certifications in mechanical circulatory devices, continuous renal replacement therapy, advanced cardiac life support, and more.
Those who specialize in child-related fields or community health and work in schools, home care, and colleges, typically earn the least. Although there are special certifications in school nursing and community health, these organizations have less money than large corporations, and cannot afford to pay their nurses a large salary.
How satisfied are nurses with their current salaries?
Although nurses do earn more than the average working adult in the United States, 52% of nurses who responded to the survey are not satisfied with their salary. Overall, nurses are looking for more bonuses, profit-sharing opportunities, and better reimbursements.
Advances in healthcare mean that caregivers are constantly caring for sicker and less stable patients, learning new medication and treatment options, and getting used to more complex equipment. Nurses often believe they should receive a pay increase equal to the increase in their workload and education or training requirements.
More likely to be satisfied with their current salary:
- NP license holders (58%)
- Have a DNP (69%), MSN (52%) or Master’s (48%)
- Work in an office (83%), Renal/Dialysis (66%), Cardiology (65%), or Risk Management (57%)
More likely to be dissatisfied with their current salary:
- Specialize in: Managed care (55%)
- School nursing (50%)
- Public health (50%)
- Emergency/urgent care (50%)
- Hospice (50%)
- OR/PACU (45%)
Benefits and bonuses
Many employers are providing dental, healthcare, and 401K. According to Human Resources Director, many nurses say they would rather stay with an employer who provides good benefits than leave for a higher paying travel job.
Besides benefits, critical staffing pay, and salaries, annual raises are another hot topic among many nurses. The market is split, with about 60% of respondents to our survey receiving raises in the last year. Who received a raise varies by segment.
Other than a pay raise, nurses said that there are other changes that would help them feel more satisfied in their current role. Here are the top three.
Feeling valued
Nurses work hard for their degree. They complete continued education to stay on top of the latest information and often put themselves out there to advocate for their patients. Many nurses state that they would feel better about their job if their employer recognized their hard work.
Nurses in our survey stated that their satisfaction would increase by “Being truly valued for the work that I do.” Another said that they wanted “To be treated like a nurse, not a babysitter.”
Manager support
Many nurses ask for better support from their managers and administrators. Often, there’s a feeling of disconnect between the nurses and the people who make rules and decisions that impact them. Nurses want their managers to be present and available on the unit, a well-staffed unit, and for their complaints to be heard.
Nurses in our survey said they wished for “Better staffing, more organization,” and “Actual boots-on-the-ground management instead of management by algorithm. Real training instead of checking boxes just enough to cover the company, not me, from lawsuits.” They also looked for “a manager who [was] well rounded, compassionate, and understanding of our roles and responsibilities.”
Ability to care for patients
Ultimately, most nurses enter the healthcare profession because they want to help patients. While no nurse should work for free, many nurses would feel higher job satisfaction if they felt that they could give the best care possible to their patients.
In fact, the Minnessota Nurses Association warns that moral distress caused by too little time with patients, being short staffed, lack of resources, and being unable to do their best work is a huge reason for nurse burnout and leaving the healthcare profession completely.
One nurse stated that they would feel happier at work “If healthcare culture was less focused on profit and more focused on patients and employee satisfaction and retention.”
