Healthcare Practitioners and Technical

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.

MAY 2025 · OCCUPATIONAL WAGES

A wage reference for United States.

Published wage percentiles describe a distribution within the source occupation group. They provide context for a career decision; employer packages and job offers have their own terms.

Source wage group: Registered Nurses

This wage group may include multiple detailed occupations. The figures are for the source group, which may be broader than Registered Nurses. They are not an exact-title, employer, experience or seniority match.

May 2025 · USD · United States. Annual and hourly figures are shown only when the source publishes them; neither is calculated from the other.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage data, distributed through the O*NET® OnLine service.

Median annual wage$97,550USD per year · Published 50th percentile
Median hourly wage$46.90USD per hour · Published 50th percentile

Annual wage thresholds

USD per year

Hourly wage thresholds

USD per hour

Published occupational wage percentiles · United States · May 2025
PercentileAnnual wage (USD/year)Hourly wage (USD/hour)
10th$68,940$33.14
25th$80,330$38.62
50th · Median$97,550$46.90
75th$112,350$54.02
90th$137,470$66.09

“≥” means at least the published amount; “≤” means at most that amount. These are bounds, not exact values. “Not published” means the source did not provide that figure. Occupational wages follow the source definition and do not establish an employer’s base salary, equity or total compensation.

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THE WORK BEHIND THE TITLE

What this career involves.

Occupation definitions describe common work. Responsibilities and requirements vary by employer and specific job.

Selected title examples

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Typical tasks

  • Record patients' medical information and vital signs.
  • Administer medications to patients and monitor patients for reactions or side effects.
  • Maintain accurate, detailed reports and records.
  • Monitor, record, and report symptoms or changes in patients' conditions.
  • Provide health care, first aid, immunizations, or assistance in convalescence or rehabilitation in locations such as schools, hospitals, or industry.
  • Consult and coordinate with healthcare team members to assess, plan, implement, or evaluate patient care plans.
Expand more tasks (21)
  • Direct or supervise less-skilled nursing or healthcare personnel or supervise a particular unit.
  • Monitor all aspects of patient care, including diet and physical activity.
  • Instruct individuals, families, or other groups on topics such as health education, disease prevention, or childbirth and develop health improvement programs.
  • Modify patient treatment plans as indicated by patients' responses and conditions.
  • Conduct specified laboratory tests.
  • Observe nurses and visit patients to ensure proper nursing care.
  • Assess the needs of individuals, families, or communities, including assessment of individuals' home or work environments, to identify potential health or safety problems.
  • Work with individuals, groups, or families to plan or implement programs designed to improve the overall health of communities.
  • 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.
  • Order, interpret, and evaluate diagnostic tests to identify and assess patient's condition.
  • 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.
  • Administer local, inhalation, intravenous, or other anesthetics.
  • Provide or arrange for training or instruction of auxiliary personnel or students.
  • Refer students or patients to specialized health resources or community agencies furnishing assistance.
  • Perform physical examinations, make tentative diagnoses, and treat patients en route to hospitals or at disaster site triage centers.
  • Consult with institutions or associations regarding issues or concerns relevant to the practice and profession of nursing.
  • Inform physician of patient's condition during anesthesia.
  • Engage in research activities related to nursing.

Skills used in this work

Social Perceptiveness
Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Active Listening
Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Coordination
Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Critical Thinking
Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Service Orientation
Actively looking for ways to help people.
Speaking
Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Expand more skills (29)
Judgment and Decision Making
Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Reading Comprehension
Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Monitoring
Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Writing
Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Active Learning
Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Complex Problem Solving
Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Instructing
Teaching others how to do something.
Learning Strategies
Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
Time Management
Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Operations Monitoring
Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
Systems Analysis
Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
Systems Evaluation
Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
Mathematics
Using mathematics to solve problems.
Persuasion
Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
Quality Control Analysis
Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
Science
Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
Negotiation
Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
Management of Personnel Resources
Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
Operation and Control
Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
Operations Analysis
Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
Equipment Selection
Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.
Management of Material Resources
Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.
Technology Design
Generating or adapting equipment and technology to serve user needs.
Troubleshooting
Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
Management of Financial Resources
Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
Programming
Writing computer programs for various purposes.
Repairing
Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
Equipment Maintenance
Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
Installation
Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or programs to meet specifications.
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Sources and citation.

Cite this page: Wages.fyi, “Registered Nurses career and wage guide.” Link to this Wages.fyi page

This page includes information from the O*NET® 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Wages.fyi has selected and organized this information and added wage navigation and explanations. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. Database license and attribution requirements.

Official occupation profile · Official wage reference . Wage reference: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, distributed through the O*NET® OnLine service. Source data and publication dates can differ from the date this page is accessed.