Nurses don’t rise through the ranks of their profession in the same way that a business executive might. There are raises and promotions, but they are largely scheduled, and unrelated to performance.
Where someone in the world of finance can rise almost endlessly up the professional ladder, the path isn’t as open for healthcare professionals.
Regardless, there are still ways for nurses to expand their responsibilities and increase their earnings.
In this article, we take a look at what options are available to nurses who might be interested in scaling the career ladder.
What is the Highest Level a Nurse Can Go?
If we are talking about the sort of promotion you can brag about at a high school reunion, that would probably be the role of CNO–Chief Nursing Officer. This C-Suite position is, short of Secretary of Health, arguably as high as a nurse can go.
It’s a strategic/leadership role that will involve overseeing hospital operations at the highest level. Salary will vary based mostly on the size and resources of the hospital where you work, but most people can expect an income of $200,000. This isn’t a bad ambition as those go, but it is a few steps removed from patient care. It’s also not the easiest job to get. Hospitals only need one of them.
Advanced Practice Nurses
Advanced Practice positions are the most common and natural opportunities for nurses who want to make more money and do more healthcare tasks. These roles include Certified Nurse Midwives who deliver babies and provide women’s health services. Clinical Nurse Specialists focus on specific patient populations or medical specialties. Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists administer anesthesia during procedures. But Nurse Practitioners represent the largest group and offer the most diverse opportunities.
Advanced Practice positions are cool because they let you focus on areas of nursing that interest you the most. For example, if you want to be a nurse practitioner you can do it as an FNP, seeing patients for their annual visits and helping them strategize with their long-term health goals and decisions.
Or you can work on a neonatal floor. A psychiatric hospital. Some NPs specialize in geriatrics, caring exclusively for older adults. Others focus on acute care in emergency settings.
The wide range of options are, for many nurses, more compelling than the increased salary. That, of course, does not hurt either though. While your salary expectations will vary based both on your specialty and your location, you can expect to earn $100,000+. In high-demand specialties or locations with provider shortages, compensation can reach significantly higher levels.
What Does It Take to Become an Advanced Practice Nurse
Advanced practice nurses will pretty much universally need to go to graduate school. These programs vary in length but generally take 2-3 years assuming a regular course of study. Many people will take longer because they are already working at a hospital when they start the program, or because they are simply balancing other responsibilities. Graduate nursing programs understand this reality and often offer flexible scheduling options.
You’ll start recouping the cost of your investment faster if you can stick to the “traditional” timeline but sustainability is the more important factor. Can I do this without burning out? If the answer is no, pump the brakes a little. It’s that slow and steady metaphor you’ve heard before. Nursing burnout is a serious concern that affects many in the profession.
If you are an undergraduate right now–preferably early in your studies–there may be programs at your school that allow you to “combine” your undergraduate and graduate degrees.
By this, we mean accelerate your degree completion timeline by taking some graduate classes while still working on your bachelor’s. This is obviously convenient. However, it does require you to have a stronger understanding of your long-term career goals than is common to many 18-year-olds.
These accelerated programs typically save both time and money for students who are certain of their career path.
Are There Other Options?
Are there other options? Yes. The most common and probably most appealing option is to look at certification routes. To become a specially certified nurse is not always to make a step up the ladder in a traditional sense. Your basic position within the healthcare community will not always change.
Your salary might not also increase–though sometimes it does. What you get instead, is the option to focus more narrowly on only what interests you the most in healthcare. These certifications do take time–sometimes as long as a graduate degree–but the nice thing is that you can often work in your newly chosen field while fulfilling the commitments of the certification program.
What Path is Right for You?
The most important thing you can do is choose a path that makes you happy. If that sounds maybe a lot like the sort of thing a high school guidance counselor might say, well so what?
Nursing is hard. People leave the job every day for that reason. If you are just hoping to make as much money as you can, there are other career paths available. Ones you will have an easier time with.
Pick something that will deepen your love of the work and allow you to focus on aspects of healthcare you care the most about. Rewards are sweetest on that path.
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