Top Ten Highest Paying Nursing Specialties

Become a Nurse >> Browse Articles >> Step 7: Decide on a Specialty

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Top Ten Highest Paying Nursing Specialties

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After nurses finish nursing school, choosing the right nursing specialty becomes their chief focus. With so many specialties to choose from, many prospective nurses find it difficult to just pick one, but with nearly every specialty requiring candidates to pass a series of exams and fulfill a period of on-the-job training, time is of the essence!

Pay should not be your only considering when deciding on a specialty, but the list below of the highest paying nursing specialties provides a good primer on which types of nurses have the greatest earning potential.

1) Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist - $135,000

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2) Nurse Researcher - $95,000

3) Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner - $95,000

4) Certified Nurse Midwife - $84,000

5) Pediatric Endocrinology Nurse - $81,000

6) Orthopaedic Nurse - $81,000

7) Nurse Practitioner - $78,000

8) Clinical Nurse Specialist - $76,000

9) Gerontological Nurse Practitioner - $75,000

10) Neonatal Nurse - $74,000

Learn more in the Top Paying Nursing Specialties Sideshow

See Entire List of Nursing Specialties

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tjbart

8 days ago

2 comments

Nursing salaries differ from state to state. What state did these salaries come from? Some advice to all who want to be an LPN. RN definitely gets a much higher salary than an LPN. Go for the RN right off. Once you settle into a nursing position it is hard to make yourself go back to school for an RN. I know several LPNs trying to work full-time and go to school full-time for their RN. It is not easy!
qwp22

18 days ago

3 comments

Most of the hightest paying specialties in the field of nursing require a master's degree. While some see the $135,000 average for a nurse anesthetist, and think "that's for me," the truth is, it might be the MOST competitive field to gain entrance to in a graduate nursing program. Many nursing anesthetist programs only admit 10-15 students a year. So, the programs only admit the best nursing students, and the coursework is certainly challenging.
judawn2006

about 1 month ago

1 comment

BEING THAT I AM CURRENTLY A LPN AND NOW PERSUING MY RN I THINK THAT THERE ARE DIFFERANCES AMONG THE BOTH SCOPES HOWEVER THERE ARE DEFINITELY MORE SIMILARITIES LPN JUST GET LESS PAY BECAUSE OF NOT HAVING THE EDUCATIONAL KNOWLEDGE HOWEVER THE PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE IS THERE AMONGST BOTH. LETS JUST WORK TOGHER FOR THE PATIENT LPN RN WHATEVER ONCE YOU ARE A GOOD NURSE.
johnsonl197

about 1 month ago

1 comment

I am a police officer who origionally wanted to become a nurse. I have an Associates degree in Criminal Justice and have taken all but clinicals in the nursing field at a community college. I was a medical assistant, emt and worked 13 years in the medical field prior to becomming an officer. Any one have any suggestions as to where to go or how to get into an RN program with my background and full time work schedule?
bmtnurse

about 1 month ago

1 comment

These figures do not reflect the pay of an RN at all. Why would a ped nurse make more than a CRNP??? You need to divide these salaries by 2 more like it. I have to disagree that a LPN knows more "how to" than a RN being that y'all can't do half the stuff a RN is allowed. Skip the LPN and go for RN.
jenifernix

about 1 month ago

1 comment

I am in LPN school right now. I am in my second level. I got my CNA after the first semester. I talked to alot of medical personal and they said that a LPN knows more how to and the RN know more why. They said they would recommend going for LPN first. In Louisiana where I live you have to work for one year as a LPN before you can bridge over to RN. LPN takes one year and if i would have done RN first it would have taken two years. I have a CNA job while I am in school making 12per hour
shannon_08

about 1 month ago

1 comment

i really want to become a cna
nursingprogramwanted

about 1 month ago

7 comments

I live in the bay area in ca and it is so hard to get into a nursing program. I was wondering should I become a LPN first and then try to get into the nursing program because Ceritfied LPN's enter the program in the 3 semester, so you are basically done within a year. Can anybody give me any advice?
hjoeljohnson

about 1 month ago

43 comments

Good point CD.......the surveys are generally formulated by dividing an aggregate number of nurses in a particular specialty, by the total salaries as reported by HR in that same or similar geographic area. It is my biased opinion that this methodology takes the wind out of nurses salary negotiations when faced with these supposedly accurate data. Props to the authors of articles that give advice on case by case salary negotion based on individual qualifications rather than aggregate hogwash. No disrespect intended of course.
cdnurse

about 1 month ago

1008 comments

I would like to know if these figures came from a survey of nurses or if it came from an HR type person. The surveys such as the ones you see in online sites and journals are not always so true
bloodsidhe

3 months ago

7 comments

How do you go about becoming a Nurse Anesthesist? I am going to Kaplan for Medical Assistant to start with so I can get my foot in the door at one of the big Cleveland Hospitals to get my RN education paid for, but my dream job would be flight nurse or Nurse Anesthesist or ER Nurse or a Nurse Practitioner... as you can see I really don't have a clue yet other the I want to be in the medical field...lol
RLL78254

3 months ago

2 comments

BARBARA 1104 WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO SCHOOL
BARBARA1104

3 months ago

1 comment

how much does an O.R nurse or E.R nurse average
hezkajen

3 months ago

3 comments

It looks like CNM is going to be a great choice for me!!!

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