Nursing Practice

Types of Degrees Nursing Practice Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many nursing practice graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Doctor’s Degree	7,474
Master’s Degree	453
Graduate Certificate	275

What Nursing Practice Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, nursing practice majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Nursing Practice Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

Skills for Nursing Practice Majors

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to nursing practice:

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Abilities for Nursing Practice Majors

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a nursing practice student include the following:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

What Can You Do With a Nursing Practice Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with nursing practice:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Medical and Health Services Managers	20.5%	$99,730
Nurse Practitioners	36.1%	$107,030
Registered Nurses	14.8%	$71,730

Who Is Getting a Master’s Degree in Nursing Practice?

The major attracts more women than men. About 87% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of nursing practice majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	33
Black or African American	70
Hispanic or Latino	34
White	257
International Students	2
Other Races/Ethnicities	57

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Nursing Practice, too. About 0.4% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Nursing Practice

Some careers associated with nursing practice require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

Find out what the typical degree level is for nursing practice careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Some College Courses	4.4%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	32.7%
Bachelor’s Degree	28.0%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	2.2%
Master’s Degree	30.4%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	1.1%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	1.1%
Doctoral Degree	2.2%

Online Nursing Practice Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	6	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	3	1
Bachelor’s Degree	17	5
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	31	16
Post-Master’s	28	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	60	27
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	253	111
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	22	14

Majors Related to Nursing Practice

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to nursing practice.

Major	Number of Grads
Registered Nursing	253,629
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing	15,154
Nursing Administration	8,050
Nursing Science	4,481
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	4,364
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing	3,261
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing	2,295
Public Health/Community Nurse/Nursing	1,963
Nurse Anesthetist	1,939
Critical Care Nursing	652
Geriatric Nurse/Nursing	566
Nurse Midwife/Nursing Midwifery	538
School Nursing	508
Clinical Nurse Leader	447
Clinical Nurse Specialist	292
Women’s Health Nurse/Nursing	288
Perioperative/Operating Room and Surgical Nurse/Nursing	208
Maternal/Child Health and Neonatal Nurse/Nursing	135
Emergency Room/Trauma Nursing	76
Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing	29
Forensic Nursing	20
Palliative Care Nursing	3

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By Aleksahgabrielle under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.