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Registered Nurses
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. May advise patients on health maintenance and disease prevention or provide case management. Licensing or registration required.
Also Known As:
Certified Operating Room Nurse (CNOR)
Charge Nurse
Emergency Department RN (Emergency Department Registered Nurse)
Oncology RN (Oncology Registered Nurse)
Operating Room Registered Nurse (OR RN)
Psychiatric RN (Psychiatric Registered Nurse)
Relief Charge Nurse
School Nurse
Staff Nurse
Staff RN (Staff Registered Nurse)
Wages
Annual wages for Registered Nurses in United States
Job Outlook
Bright
New job opportunities are very likely in the future
United States
2034 Projected Employment
3,557,100
5% Change From 2024
Explore Registered Nurses video
Tasks you might complete in a day.
- Monitor, record, and report symptoms or changes in patients' conditions.
- Monitor all aspects of patient care, including diet and physical activity.
- Observe nurses and visit patients to ensure proper nursing care.
- Direct or supervise less-skilled nursing or healthcare personnel or supervise a particular unit.
- Conduct specified laboratory tests.
- Instruct individuals, families, or other groups on topics such as health education, disease prevention, or childbirth and develop health improvement programs.
- Assess the needs of individuals, families, or communities, including assessment of individuals' home or work environments, to identify potential health or safety problems.
- Instruct individuals, families, or other groups on topics such as health education, disease prevention, or childbirth and develop health improvement programs.
- Work with individuals, groups, or families to plan or implement programs designed to improve the overall health of communities.
- Prescribe or recommend drugs, medical devices, or other forms of treatment, such as physical therapy, inhalation therapy, or related therapeutic procedures.
- Direct or coordinate infection control programs, advising or consulting with specified personnel about necessary precautions.
- Prepare rooms, sterile instruments, equipment, or supplies and ensure that stock of supplies is maintained.
- Consult with institutions or associations regarding issues or concerns relevant to the practice and profession of nursing.
- Order, interpret, and evaluate diagnostic tests to identify and assess patient's condition.
- Order, interpret, and evaluate diagnostic tests to identify and assess patient's condition.
- Perform physical examinations, make tentative diagnoses, and treat patients en route to hospitals or at disaster site triage centers.
- Administer local, inhalation, intravenous, or other anesthetics.
- Administer medications to patients and monitor patients for reactions or side effects.
- Consult and coordinate with healthcare team members to assess, plan, implement, or evaluate patient care plans.
- Prepare rooms, sterile instruments, equipment, or supplies and ensure that stock of supplies is maintained.
- Perform physical examinations, make tentative diagnoses, and treat patients en route to hospitals or at disaster site triage centers.
- Provide health care, first aid, immunizations, or assistance in convalescence or rehabilitation in locations such as schools, hospitals, or industry.
- Maintain accurate, detailed reports and records.
- Prepare patients for and assist with examinations or treatments.
- Monitor, record, and report symptoms or changes in patients' conditions.
- Refer students or patients to specialized health resources or community agencies furnishing assistance.
- Provide or arrange for training or instruction of auxiliary personnel or students.
- Direct or coordinate infection control programs, advising or consulting with specified personnel about necessary precautions.
- Administer medications to patients and monitor patients for reactions or side effects.
- Modify patient treatment plans as indicated by patients' responses and conditions.
- Prepare patients for and assist with examinations or treatments.
- Perform administrative or managerial functions, such as taking responsibility for a unit's staff, budget, planning, or long-range goals.
- Monitor, record, and report symptoms or changes in patients' conditions.
- Monitor all aspects of patient care, including diet and physical activity.
- Observe nurses and visit patients to ensure proper nursing care.
- Prescribe or recommend drugs, medical devices, or other forms of treatment, such as physical therapy, inhalation therapy, or related therapeutic procedures.
- Perform physical examinations, make tentative diagnoses, and treat patients en route to hospitals or at disaster site triage centers.
- Inform physician of patient's condition during anesthesia.
- Engage in research activities related to nursing.
- Record patients' medical information and vital signs.
- Provide health care, first aid, immunizations, or assistance in convalescence or rehabilitation in locations such as schools, hospitals, or industry.
Subject areas you may need to master.
- Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
- History and Archeology - Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
- Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
- Philosophy and Theology - Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
- Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
- Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
- Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
- Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
- Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
- Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
- Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
- Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
- Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
- Foreign Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
- Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
- Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
- Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
- Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
- Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
- Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
- Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
- Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Strengths you may need in this role.
- Operations Analysis - Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
- Writing - Writing things for co-workers or customers.
- Social Perceptiveness - Understanding people's reactions.
- Coordination - Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
- Complex Problem Solving - Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
- Reading Comprehension - Reading work-related information.
- Management of Financial Resources - Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
- Troubleshooting - Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
- Time Management - Managing your time and the time of other people.
- Speaking - Talking to others.
- Critical Thinking - Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
- Operations Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
- Equipment Maintenance - Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
- Systems Evaluation - Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
- Management of Personnel Resources - Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
- Systems Analysis - Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
- Management of Material Resources - Managing equipment and materials.
- Equipment Selection - Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
- Programming - Writing computer programs.
- Science - Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
- Active Learning - Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
- Monitoring - Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
- Negotiation - Bringing people together to solve differences.
- Instructing - Teaching people how to do something.
- Installation - Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
- Quality Control Analysis - Testing how well a product or service works.
- Mathematics - Using math to solve problems.
- Technology Design - Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
- Operation and Control - Using equipment or systems.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
- Repairing - Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
- Active Listening - Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
- Learning Strategies - Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
- Persuasion - Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
- Service Orientation - Looking for ways to help people.
- Oral Expression - Communicating by speaking.
- Selective Attention - Paying attention to something without being distracted.
- Deductive Reasoning - Using rules to solve problems.
- Dynamic Flexibility - Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Mathematical Reasoning - Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
- Category Flexibility - Grouping things in different ways.
- Control Precision - Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
- Inductive Reasoning - Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
- Speech Clarity - Speaking clearly.
- Rate Control - Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
- Static Strength - Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
- Near Vision - Seeing details up close.
- Night Vision - Seeing at night or under low light.
- Peripheral Vision - Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
- Gross Body Coordination - Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
- Fluency of Ideas - Coming up with lots of ideas.
- Problem Sensitivity - Noticing when problems happen.
- Information Ordering - Ordering or arranging things.
- Perceptual Speed - Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
- Finger Dexterity - Putting together small parts with your fingers.
- Number Facility - Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness - Keeping your arm or hand steady.
- Speed of Limb Movement - Quickly moving your arms and legs.
- Trunk Strength - Using your lower back and stomach.
- Stamina - Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
- Oral Comprehension - Listening and understanding what people say.
- Written Comprehension - Reading and understanding what is written.
- Flexibility of Closure - Seeing hidden patterns.
- Manual Dexterity - Holding or moving items with your hands.
- Glare Sensitivity - Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
- Hearing Sensitivity - Telling the difference between sounds.
- Auditory Attention - Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
- Speech Recognition - Recognizing spoken words.
- Response Orientation - Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
- Extent Flexibility - Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Far Vision - Seeing details that are far away.
- Written Expression - Communicating by writing.
- Originality - Creating new and original ideas.
- Speed of Closure - Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
- Spatial Orientation - Knowing where things are around you.
- Reaction Time - Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
- Wrist-Finger Speed - Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Explosive Strength - Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
- Dynamic Strength - Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
- Visualization - Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
- Multilimb Coordination - Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
- Memorization - Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
- Time Sharing - Doing two or more things at the same time.
- Depth Perception - Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
- Sound Localization - Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
- Visual Color Discrimination - Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
- Gross Body Equilibrium - Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Average Education Attained
Highest level of education earned by people in this career.
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Content sourced from United States Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration ("DOLETA") and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development ("DEED")