Registered Nurses
What Registered Nurses Do
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.
See full salary breakdown & percentiles →
Career Outlook
National employment outlook, 2024–2034.
- Related work experience
- None
- On-the-job training
- None
- Self-employed
- 0.5%
Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.
How Much Preparation Does This Take?
Job Zone 4 of 5Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
- Experience
- A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations.
- Education
- Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
- Job training
- Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Source: O*NET Job Zones.
Key Knowledge Areas
Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.
- Psychologyimportance 4.6/5
- Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 4.4/5
- Medicine and Dentistryimportance 4.4/5
- English Languageimportance 4.2/5
- Administrativeimportance 3.5/5
- Mathematicsimportance 3.4/5
- Therapy and Counselingimportance 3.4/5
- Administration and Managementimportance 3.3/5
Work Environment
What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.
- Telephone Conversations4.9/5
- Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams4.9/5
- Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team4.9/5
- Contact With Others4.9/5
- Indoors, Environmentally Controlled4.6/5
- Deal With External Customers or the Public in General4.5/5
Careers With Similar Skills
Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.
- Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses97% skill match
- Medical Dosimetrists97% skill match
- Athletic Trainers96% skill match
- Detectives and Criminal Investigators96% skill match
- Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric96% skill match
- Nurse Midwives96% skill match
- Fire Inspectors and Investigators96% skill match
- Flight Attendants96% skill match
Transferable Skills
Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.
- Social Perceptivenessimportance 4.1/5
- Coordinationimportance 4.0/5
- Service Orientationimportance 4.0/5
- Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 3.9/5
- Complex Problem Solvingimportance 3.5/5
- Instructingimportance 3.3/5
- Time Managementimportance 3.1/5
- Operations Monitoringimportance 3.0/5
Software & Technologies
Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.
Hot Technologies
Other Software Used
- Allscripts Sunrise
- Allscripts healthcare automation software
- Data entry software
- Database software
- Diagnostic and procedural coding software
- DoctorsPartner EMR
- Drug guide software
- Electronic medical record EMR software
Work Style
Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.
- Attention to Detail
- Dependability
- Cooperation
- Integrity
- Cautiousness
- Empathy
- Adaptability
Career Interests
This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.
- SocialHigh
- ConventionalMedium
- InvestigativeMedium
- RealisticMedium
- EnterprisingLow
- ArtisticLow
This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 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.
Where This Career Is Most Concentrated
Metro areas where registered nurses make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).
- 1Morgantown, WV3.08× national avg
- 2Rochester, MN2.39× national avg
- 3Ann Arbor, MI2.30× national avg
- 4Gainesville, FL2.25× national avg
- 5Greenville, NC2.15× national avg
Possible Career Moves
A computed starting point, not observed job-change data — see the full list for why each one might fit.
- Nurse MidwivesAdvancement
- Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational NursesLateral Move
- Medical DosimetristsLateral Move
- Exercise PhysiologistsLateral Move
Related Education Programs
Schools that offer related fields of study, based on the NCES CIP-SOC crosswalk — not a guarantee that graduates enter this specific career.
Clinical Nurse Leader
- Western Governors University (Salt Lake City, UT)grads earn ~$97,114
- Chamberlain University-Illinois (Addison, IL)grads earn ~$96,132
- Capella University (Minneapolis, MN)grads earn ~$97,211
- Walden University (Minneapolis, MN)grads earn ~$122,823
- Grand Canyon University (Phoenix, AZ)grads earn ~$103,884