highest paid nursing specialty

[Tziganka]

Hey all,

I'm a med-surge nurse with three years experience and a lot of expenses. I'm considering going for a Masters but want to be smart about it as life is not getting any cheaper. So my question is, what are the highest paying nursing specialties other then Nurse Anesthetist?

I appreciate all and any input.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

I have certified nurse life care planner colleagues who routinely pull in multiple six-figure incomes. (Not, I hasten to add, that I am among them.) You won't get there in two years, though.

[NICU Guy, BSN, RN]

GrnTea you forgot to add in the huge salary allnurses give you for helping the students on this website. That should put you into the six figure range. :)

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

It is unwise to try to project future in come based on clinical specialty in light of what is happening in Health Care Reform. We are in a period of profound change in health care financing and this will have an impact on all clinical services.

Instead of focusing on clinical specialties, I would encourage the OP to look at "functional" areas that are required for any organization to succeed. Nurse administrators/executives are becoming more important in healthcare operations as they are usually the leaders who have the most insight into all areas of service delivery. Their salaries are comparable to other executives. Nurses who manage/lead operational areas such as case management, loss prevention (risk management), quality & patient safety, transitional care, etc.... all command high salaries that reflect their value to the organization.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

GrnTea you forgot to add in the huge salary allnurses give you for helping the students on this website. That should put you into the six figure range. :)

I'm a paying member like the rest of you lot. :)

[Tziganka]

I have certified nurse life care planner colleagues who routinely pull in multiple six-figure incomes. (Not, I hasten to add, that I am among them.) You won't get there in two years, though.

Thank you so much for your reply. I have never heard of a certified nurse life care planner. I did a quick google search and all I found is there association website which does not give me much info on what they actually do. Can you give me just a quick run down on what exactly this sort of specialty entails and in what setting do these practitioners function i.e hospital, home-care, insurance...

Also, what kind of experience must one have to go into this field?

Thank you again for your reply and help!

[Tziganka]

It is unwise to try to project future in come based on clinical specialty in light of what is happening in Health Care Reform. We are in a period of profound change in health care financing and this will have an impact on all clinical services.

Instead of focusing on clinical specialties, I would encourage the OP to look at "functional" areas that are required for any organization to succeed. Nurse administrators/executives are becoming more important in healthcare operations as they are usually the leaders who have the most insight into all areas of service delivery. Their salaries are comparable to other executives. Nurses who manage/lead operational areas such as case management, loss prevention (risk management), quality & patient safety, transitional care, etc.... all command high salaries that reflect their value to the organization.

Thank you so much for replying. I actually would really like to get into case management. I spoke to the nurse recruiter in my hospital about applying for a case management position and she told me I need experience in case management. I asked her how one obtains such experience and she couldn't even answer me. If anyone has any ideas on how to deal with THAT kind of nurse recruiter I would also very much appreciate it.

I'm applying for a home care agency position to do part time just so that I can get some home care experience on my resume to better qualify for a case management position. Is there anything else I can do to break into case management?

Thank you again for your reply and help!

[happyinillinois]

CRNA. Very hard to get into a program, but I've read the median salary is around $114k.

[Tziganka]

Anything but nurse anesthetist. I just can't. I need a game plan for my career to not end up 20 years from now still doing what I'm doing now for a slightly higher pay. I would really like to work less and make more, to make myself that much more valuable that my time and skill will actually be worth that much more.

[troop949]

Not to sound snarky, but wouldn't everybody like to work less, make more, and feel more valued in the workplace? While I understand what point you're getting at, I don't think there's a magic specialty that will pay big bucks with minimal hours. I think if you're skilled enough, no matter what your profession, you can earn more income. But you may have to be creative/an innovator, and show your employer that you are worth the $. Or, just bypass all that red tape and go into business on your own!

[BSNtraumaqueenRN]

Look into legal nurse consulting