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.
Median pay
$97,550
Per year, OEWS May 2025
People employed
3,379,720
United States, OEWS May 2025
Projected change
5.6%
2025-2035 projection
Projected openings
180,800
Average per year, 2025-2035
Pay distribution and location comparison
These are published pay distribution points for everyone working in this occupation, not pay levels for junior, mid, or senior roles. Location figures are pay as published; no cost-of-living adjustment is applied.
United States, all industries
$68,94010th
$80,33025th
$97,550Median
$112,35075th
$137,47090th
National pay distribution and the selected area, annual wages
Pay point
United States
Selected area
10th percentile
$68,940
-
25th percentile
$80,330
-
Median
$97,550
-
75th percentile
$112,350
-
90th percentile
$137,470
-
People employed
3,379,720
-
Source: OEWS May 2025, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (imported 9/17/2026) official file Reference period: OEWS May 2025.
Long-term outlook
Official ten-year projection for 2025 to 2035. Projected annual openings are an average per year over the decade, including openings from workers leaving the occupation. They are not a count of jobs open today.
Employment 2025
3,465,400 jobs
Projected 2035
3,660,100 jobs
Change
5.6%
2025-2035
Openings per year
180,800
Decade average, in people
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
Related work experience
None
On-the-job training
None
Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-2035, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (imported 9/17/2026) official file Employment is published in thousands of jobs and converted here to people.
OptimizeResume Job Market Score™
56
Balanced
Stable
Confidence:High
Reference period:Jul 2026
OptimizeResume analysis using U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. This is not a BLS statistic or a prediction that an individual will be hired.
Current Demand50%
47
Occupation Fundamentals30%
75
Long-Term Outlook20%
48
Score trend
Historical scores may be restated when BLS revises underlying data. The chart uses the latest restated values.
3 months
+2
6 months
+1
Confidence
At least 90% of required inputs and occupation-industry mapping are covered.
How this score is built
Monthly industry demand is mapped to this occupation using official occupation-industry relationships, then combined with occupation fundamentals and long-term projections.
Skill values are O*NET importance ratings on a 1-5 scale for the occupation itself. They describe what the work requires, not how much employers are hiring right now.
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.
Most important skills
Social Perceptiveness4.1 / 5
Active Listening4.0 / 5
Coordination4.0 / 5
Critical Thinking4.0 / 5
Service Orientation4.0 / 5
Speaking4.0 / 5
Judgment and Decision Making3.9 / 5
Reading Comprehension3.9 / 5
Monitoring3.8 / 5
Writing3.8 / 5
Active Learning3.5 / 5
Complex Problem Solving3.5 / 5
O*NET importance rating, 1 (not important) to 5 (extremely important).
Software and technology
Medical softwareeClinicalWorks EHR software (hot technology), Epic Systems (hot technology), Henry Schein Dentrix (hot technology), MEDITECH software (hot technology), Allscripts healthcare automation software, Allscripts Sunrise
Data base user interface and query softwareMicrosoft Access (hot technology), Data entry software, Database software, FileMaker Pro
Electronic mail softwareMicrosoft Outlook (hot technology), IBM Notes, Microsoft Exchange
Word processing softwareGoogle Docs (hot technology), Microsoft Word (hot technology)
Human resources softwareHuman resource management software HRMS, Oracle Taleo
Business intelligence and data analysis softwareApache Spark (hot technology)
Categorization or classification softwareDiagnostic and procedural coding software
Information retrieval or search softwareDrug guide software
Video conferencing softwareFaceTime
Cloud-based data access and sharing softwareGoogle Drive
Time accounting softwareKronos Workforce Timekeeper (hot technology)
Web page creation and editing softwareLinkedIn
O*NET marks individual examples only. “Hot technology” means the tool is frequently named across job postings generally; “in demand for this occupation” means O*NET recorded it as required by employers for this occupation. Unmarked examples are still commonly used.
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.
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.
Also advertised 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.
Check your resume against a real job posting
This page describes the occupation in general. A free scan compares your own resume with the specific job description you are applying to, requirement by requirement, and shows where your real experience is already strong and where it is simply not documented yet. Only experience you actually have should ever be added.
Source: O*NET Database version 31.0 by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Used under CC BY 4.0. OptimizeResume has modified the data for display only: selected the most important rated skills, grouped software examples by category while keeping each example’s official flags, and shortened the task list.
Related occupations
Occupations O*NET lists as closely related. Links go to our page when we cover that occupation, otherwise to the official O*NET profile.
Source: OEWS May 2025, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (imported 9/17/2026) official file
Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-2035, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (imported 9/17/2026) official file
O*NET 31.0 Database version 31.0 by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0 and modified for display on this page. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
How each number should be read
Pay percentiles describe the spread of pay across everyone in the occupation, not experience levels.
Employment counts are jobs, not people hired during the year.
Projected annual openings are a decade average from the official projection, not current vacancies.
O*NET skill ratings describe the work, not employer hiring demand.
Values BLS did not publish, suppressed, or top-coded are shown as such and never treated as zero.