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Role hub · Registered Nurses

Registered Nurse: what the job is, what it pays, and how to get hired.

The work, the skills that matter, the tools in demand and the pay range, from U.S. government data, plus every TryHired page for the role.

Maid DizdarevicCareer coach · 8x LinkedIn Top Voice
Updated Oct 24, 2026 · Data: BLS OEWS May 2025 · O*NET 31.0
Pay ladder · select a percentile
Median percentile pay

Half of registered nurses earn more than this and half earn less.

Annual
$97,550
Hourly
$46.90
Source
BLS May 2025
Quick answer

Registered Nurses assess patient health problems and needs, develop and implement nursing care plans, and maintain medical records. The median pay is $97,550 a year ($46.90 an hour) (BLS, May 2025). The most commonly reported education requirement is a post-secondary certificate (22% of workers surveyed by O*NET).

Median pay
$97,550
BLS May 2025
Employed in the U.S.
3,379,720
BLS May 2025
Preparation
Job Zone 4 of 5
considerable preparation
Most common education
Post-Secondary Certificate
22% of workers
Explore the role

Every page for Registered Nurses

SalaryRegistered Nurse salary

Pay by percentile, state and metro, with a negotiation script.

Open →How to becomeRegistered Nurse how to become

Education, training and the skills to build first.

Open →ResumeRegistered Nurse resume

Keywords, bullet formulas and the skills to prove.

Open →Interview questionsRegistered Nurse interview questions

Questions with what they test, plus practice mode.

Open →Career changeRegistered Nurse career change

Where these skills transfer, with skill match and pay change.

Open →Free toolCheck your resume

Parsed text, evidence per bullet, fixes first.

Open →
The work

What registered nurses do day to day

Data Core tasks rated most important by workers in the role (O*NET).

  1. Record patients' medical information and vital signs.
  2. Administer medications to patients and monitor patients for reactions or side effects.
  3. Maintain accurate, detailed reports and records.
  4. Monitor, record, and report symptoms or changes in patients' conditions.
  5. Provide health care, first aid, immunizations, or assistance in convalescence or rehabilitation in locations such as schools, hospitals, or industry.
  6. Consult and coordinate with healthcare team members to assess, plan, implement, or evaluate patient care plans.
  7. Direct or supervise less-skilled nursing or healthcare personnel or supervise a particular unit.
  8. Monitor all aspects of patient care, including diet and physical activity.
Skills that matter

Ranked by importance to the job

Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.

Social PerceptivenesscoreCoordinationcoreService OrientationcoreActive ListeningSpeakingCritical ThinkingJudgment and Decision MakingReading ComprehensionWriting

Knowledge areas: Psychology, Customer and Personal Service, Medicine and Dentistry, English Language, Administrative, Mathematics.

Tools and technology

Software registered nurses use

Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.

  • Epic SystemsMedical softwareHot technology
  • Henry Schein DentrixMedical softwareHot technology
  • Kronos Workforce TimekeeperTime accounting softwareHot technology
  • MEDITECH softwareMedical softwareHot technology
  • eClinicalWorks EHR softwareMedical softwareHot technology
  • Allscripts SunriseMedical software
  • Allscripts healthcare automation softwareMedical software
  • Diagnostic and procedural coding softwareCategorization or classification software
  • DoctorsPartner EMRMedical software
  • Drug guide softwareInformation retrieval or search software
  • Electronic medical record EMR softwareMedical software
  • Google DriveCloud-based data access and sharing software

Also called: 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).

Method

How this page is built

Tasks, skills, tools, education and related roles come from O*NET 31.0. Pay and employment come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates. The skill-match score is our calculation: Skill match is the correlation between the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level, subtract the average across all occupations, and correlate the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 or below means unrelated. Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.

What this page can't tell you
  • How a specific employer defines the job.
  • Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
  • Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
Sources
  1. O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
  2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).