I’m going to talk about the pay for nurses in Canada today. Nonetheless, before moving on, we’ll first go over what a registered nurse is and what they perform.
A Registered Nurse (RN) is a licensed nurse who works as part of a team with doctors and physicians to provide patient care. Registered Nurses can work in a variety of healthcare settings, such as schools, hospitals and private clinics. Registered Nurses perform detailed patient assessments and work with a physician to provide full patient care, from preliminary exams and treatment all the way to follow-up visits.
Registered nurses also provide and coordinate patient care, instruct patients and the public, and offer patients and families counseling and emotional support.
In this article, we will go over
- What Registered Nurses do?
- The job market for registered nurses?
- What kind of money they make?
- And the top industries and metro areas?
Most registered nurses work on a team with physicians and other healthcare professionals. Their duties and titles depend on where they work and patients they treat. There are many different types of registered nurses.
Addiction Nurses care for patients who need to overcome addictions to alcohol and drugs.
- Cardiovascular Nurses: Cardiovascular Nurses care for patients with heart diseases
- Critical Care Nurses: Critical Care Nurses work in intensive care units in hospitals providing care to patients with serious illnesses and injuries.
- Neonatal Nurses: Neonatal Nurses take care of newborn babies and there are many more subsets of registered nurses even beyond this initial list.
Also not all registered nurses work directly with patients. Registered Nurses can also work as educators, healthcare consultants, researchers, medical writers and more.
Registered Nurses work in a couple different settings,
- 60% the vast majority of registered nurses work in hospitals.
- 18% work in ambulatory health care services which includes physician offices, home health care and outpatient care centers.
- 7% work in nursing and residential care facilities.
- 5% work in government and
- 3% work in education.
Of these different industries, government actually pays registered nurses the most with an average wage of a little over $70,000 per year.
The second highest is hospitals, which on average pay registered nurses a little over $73,000 dollars per year.
Ambulatory Healthcare services pay registered nurses around $68,000 dollars per year.
Nursing Residential care facilities on average pay Registered nurses around $63,000.
Education pays registered nurses the least with an average wage of around $62,000 dollars per year. Unlike other occupations, notice that there are no self-employed registered nurses. Entrepreneurship really isn’t available to registered nurses. So if you are interested in owning your company, someday there might be some easier occupations that you could go into that would help you do that.
Next, let’s take a look at the job market for registered nurses.
The Registered Nurse is the fifth most common job in America. It is only beat out by retail sales persons, food prep workers, cashiers and office clerks. The job market is really great for registered nurses.
In the year 1999, there are 2,205,430 jobs for registered nurses. There is a loss of about 90,000 jobs from 2011 – 2012. This might have something to do with the recession, I am not entirely sure but the jobs bounced back real quickly.
In 2018, the government recorded 2,950,160 jobs for registered nurses, so over a whole year time period, there was a gain of 746,530 registered nurse jobs, so this is extremely high. I actually can’t think of any other occupation that has grown this much over the past 20 years. So in the past, there has been high job growth and extremely low unemployment rates for registered nurses. In fact, I cannot actually think of any other occupations that have had this kind of job growth and such a low unemployment rate over the past two decades, the job growth is actually even higher than software developers.
The next question is; will this continue? The government is estimating a gain of twelve 12% which amounts to three hundred and fifty four thousand jobs for registered nurses from 2018 – 2028. The average occupation on the other hand is expected to rise by five percent. So adding three hundred and fifty four thousand jobs over the next ten years is extremely strong or registered nurses. So there is going to be quite a need for registered nurses over the next ten years. Demand for registered nurses will increase because of our aging population. Registered Nurse will also be needed to help patients with diabetes, dementia and obesity.
Next, let’s take a look at what registered nurses earn; in 1999, the average registered nurse wage was recorded at forty-four thousand, four hundred and seventy dollars.
By the year 2018, this average wage had risen to seventy five thousand, five hundred and ten dollars, so average national wages rose for registered nurses by thirty one thousand, forty dollars over a period of twenty years.
- 1999: $ 44,470
- 2018: $ 75,510
Finally, let’s explore which metro areas are best for registered nurses. The average wages around seventy five thousand dollars per year but certain metro areas actually pay much more than this.
REGISTERED NURSING CAREERS
- Telehealth Nursing
In essence, a nurse who practices Telehealth nursing works from their home or place of business and takes calls or posts information online. So, British Columbia has to be the most typical one that comes to mind. If you dial 811 in British Columbia, a qualified nurse will answer and can address any issues you may have. This province has a phone number specifically for registered nurses. You may always contact 811, which is akin to 911 where you can reach the police, if you have a health issue or, for example, if you are pregnant and are experiencing health complications, you are feeling off, or you want some fast guidance.
- Nursing Informatics
A master’s degree is typically required to become a nurse in informatics.
What exactly do they do?
Nurses who work in informatics incorporate data from patient charts into an online database and use it to:
- Improve patients’ health; and
- Secondly, lower the cost of the healthcare system.
Most of the time, they will examine the data that we chart and apply it in some way to lower costs for the hospital and the patients. This job requires a master’s degree, and I think it’s in high demand because hospitals in British Columbia are beginning to use computer charting more and more. Previously, many hospitals used paper charts, but now many are switching to computer ones. Once you use computer charting, you can use that information, and nurses who work in informatics use that information that we chart to their advantage. I would assume that since they study it, a lot of statistics, computer programming, and other such things are involved.
- Forensic Nursing
A nurse in forensic nursing conducts analysis. They operate in many different professions, but their main task is to examine people who have experienced abuse. For instance, they may examine patients who have experienced sexual assault, elder abuse, child abuse, or neglect, as well as patients who have died. They serve as a sort of link between the legal and medical systems.
A nurse who works as a travel consultant educates patients who are traveling to Asia, Africa, or anywhere else and who need immunizations. Therefore, a travel nurse consults patients on the need for the vaccine they are on the lookout for and, obviously, delivers the injections. Currently, you do need specialized training and must enroll in various courses depending on where you are, which enables you to learn not just about the vaccinations but also about how to deliver them. It discusses the immunizations you require based on the various countries. Along with a doctor, a travel nurse administers the injection as directed by the doctor.
- Infusion Nursing
In essence, this is a nurse who performs infusions in the community. Therefore, you will need to be able to insert IVs and hang various medications, which is normally accomplished by gravity. As a result, you won’t actually need an infusion pump because you will essentially be giving patients various treatments via IV. Therefore, you will frequently notice certain antibiotics, oncology therapies like chemotherapy, and occasionally they offer treatments as outpatients and blood. Infusion nursing basically consists of hanging an IV bag and watching the IV drip and infuse. When it’s finished, you remove the IV and remove all of the IV equipment.