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Quick Facts on Registered Nurses

  • Registered Nurses (RNs) were the largest healthcare occupation in 2005, with employment of over 2.4 million jobs.
  • Job opportunities for RNs in all specialties are expected to be excellent. Employment of registered nurses is expected to grow much faster than average for all occupations through 2014.
  • Registered nurses are projected to create the second largest number of new jobs among all occupations between 2004 and 2014, increasing by 29.4 percent.
  • Women comprised 92.3% of RNs in 2005.
  • According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), in 2005, 10 percent of all RNs were black, 6.4 percent were Asian, and 4.3 percent were Hispanic.
  • BLS also projects that total job openings due to growth and net replacements will result in 1.2 million job openings for RNs alone by 2014.
  • Earnings of RNs are above average. The median weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers employed as RNs were $935 compared to $651 for all workers in 2005.

Souce: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.