Perhaps you've already earned your Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree and are a registered nurse (RN). However, now that you have experience in the nursing field, maybe you want to explore your options for advancing your nursing career.
There are many reasons to advance your nursing career. You may want to advance your role, aiming for a leadership position in the field. Or you may want to increase your salary, looking for a way to receive higher compensation for your work. Whatever your ultimate goal may be, advancing your nursing career can come with many benefits, including the following:
If you are considering advancing your nursing career, this most likely means that you are ready to put in the work toward your professional development and pursue a nursing leadership position or a specialized position.
For example, an RN could go on to become an advanced practice registered nurse (APRN), which has opportunities for nursing leadership and specialization. There are four specializations of APRNs:
- Certified nurse practitioner
- Clinical nurse specialist
- Certified nurse midwife
- Certified registered nurse anesthetist
Additionally, as an APRN you can choose to specialize further if you feel called to work with a specific patient population or in a specific setting, such as pediatrics or mental health. You could also choose to pursue a management or executive nursing leadership role, such as a nurse manager or nurse educator.
Another common reason nurses choose to advance their career is for the increased salary. As of May 2021, nurse anesthetists, nurse midwives and nurse practitioners have a median annual wage of $123,780, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.1 By comparison, registered nurses have a median annual wage of $75,330 as of May 2020.2
While earning potential can vary based on your healthcare organization and your specialty, higher positions such as that of a nurse practitioner generally see a larger compensation than a role such as an RN. These roles are tasked with greater responsibility, which is reflected in the salary.
By advancing your nursing career, you will learn valuable skills and knowledge that can help you reach professional success. Graduate degree programs teach students in-depth nursing knowledge. Some of these topics include:
- Leadership, policy and advocacy
- Systems, safety and quality
- Health promotion and disease prevention
- Analytical foundations for practice, ethics and professional role
- Translation research and population health
In addition to advancing your nursing knowledge, you will also learn about evidence-based theories and put those theories into practice in order to advance the field and improve patient care and outcomes for all organizations.
In a leadership position that comes with more responsibilities, you will likely find high job satisfaction. You can truly find your calling serving a specific patient population as a specialized APRN, for example. Setting a goal of reaching that higher-level position and achieving it can help you to feel a sense of personal and professional accomplishment from knowing that you are doing what you love and helping people while you do it.
You could also find satisfaction in a management or educator position. As a leader in your field, you will be teaching aspiring nurses to provide high-quality patient care and acting as a role model. Knowing that you are making a difference not only in the lives of patients but in the lives of your co-workers can also help you find a sense of satisfaction and success.