College graduates who studied nursing don’t need an advanced degree to land a good job. But a master’s degree can make it easier for them to reach this goal.
“Your career path and choices are broader with a graduate degree,” says Carol Manchester, the immediate past president of the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists.
Graduate education also allows nurses to focus their skills in areas such as gerontology or pediatrics, teach or move into an administrative role, experts say. It also means a higher salary potential.
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“There is a financial incentive to furthering your education. There’s no question about that,” says Manchester, who also works full time at the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities medical center and is a clinical nurse specialist.
The median pay in 2012 was $65,470 for nursing jobs that required an associate degree, bachelor’s degree or diploma from an approved nursing program, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Jobs that require a master’s degree, though, have a median salary that can be $20,000 higher or more.
Because graduate school can be a costly investment that leads to debt, prospective students may want to think about more than their future salary when deciding if they’ll go. Nurses interested in getting a master’s degree must also consider what they’ll study, how long getting the degree will take and other factors that can influence their academic and professional career.
At the master’s level, students often train for one of four jobs: nurse practitioner, nurse anesthetist, clinical nurse specialist or certified nurse midwife. The first option is the most popular.
At least 113,370 nurse practitioners were employed as of May 2013, per the BLS. There were 35,430 nurse anesthetists employed and 5,460 nurse midwives, according to the bureau. These estimates do not include self-employed workers in each of these fields. Clinical nurse specialists were not included as a separate bureau report and were grouped with the more general employment statistics for registered nurses. But experts say far fewer people become a clinical nurse specialist than a nurse practitioner.
See the [top master’s programs for family nurse practitioners.]
Kenneth Miller, president of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, says a nurse practitioner’s job can be narrowed down to five skills. “We assess. We diagnose. We treat. We interpret lab tests. And we prescribe,” he says.
Nurse anesthetists focus on the delivery of anesthesia and midwives specialize in obstetrics and the delivery of babies. Clinical nurse specialists may take on more of a leadership role within a health care environment.
“They are also skilled and prepared to work with professional staff and nursing staff to further their education and development, and to help achieve quality and safety for patient populations,” says Manchester. “They look at health systems, health policies. They look at the broader picture to problem solve and try to improve and enhance care that will not only affect one patient but it will affect a large number of patients.”
Infographic: [See what it takes to get into the Best Nursing Schools.]
Nurses less interested in working directly with patients can also pursue graduate degrees in education or administration. Those who choose the latter option can become a midlevel manager at a hospital or health care facility, but they may need to continue their education beyond a master’s degree to really leverage career options, says Judith Hupcey, the associate dean for graduate education in the college of nursing at Pennsylvania State University, which offers a master’s program for nursing administration.
“As you move up higher in the ranks there’s more pressure for people to get doctoral degrees,” she says.
Most master’s programs are completed in two years for full-time students, experts say. Graduate students must also complete a certain number of clinical hours that are required by their program and necessary to be licensed within the various professions. Students often complete 500 hours of clinical work or more, experts say.
The benefits of a graduate degree in nursing go beyond career aspirations and competitive wages, says Manchester. Pursuing this type of education fits the general scheme of what it means to work in health care and in nursing, two industries that rapidly change. Nurses, for example, regularly do some form of professional development to remain licensed.
“Learning doesn’t end when you get your bachelor’s degree,” she says. “It’s truly lifelong and careerlong.”
For more in-depth rankings, searchable data and an expanded directory of programs, sign up for the U.S. News Nursing School Compass .
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Graduate Education Gives Nurses a Salary and Career Boost originally appeared on usnews.com
