The last ten years or so have seen nurses emerge as some of the richest people around. Nursing is one of the most well paying careers. The nurses earn different amounts of cash depending on where they are and the type of nursing they do. A nurse’s salary will also depend on the level of education and level of experience. The average nurse takes home a whooping 50 thousand dollars every year.

The best paid nurses are those who work in hospitals. Though they work long and often odd hours, they definitely reap the sweetest fruit from their labors. Those who work in the emergency room or psychiatric wards take home the most money. Most Registered Nurses earn between 24 and 33 dollars for every hour they put in their jobs. These nurses can take a specialty in a certain medical field. Most of them perform tasks that are related to carrying out some medical procedures, and taking care of patients. Registered nurses who work in home health care facilities, physicians’ offices and nursing care facilities make an average $60,000 without over time every year.

Certified Nurse Assistants also make a substantial amount of money. These are the kind of nurses who perform such duties as helping in the overall care of patients, monitoring the patients’ health progress, keeping the wards clean and they also assist in the administration of simple medical procedures. CNAs usually work under registered nurses and they earn between $55, 000 and $90,000 per year. A certified nurse anesthetist may make up to $140,000 every year.

A Nursing Practitioner can make an average of $80,000 per year. Those nurses who work as home health care givers usually earn between $22 and $34 per hour.  As for nurse managers in hospitals, they can take home between $69,000 and $90,000 as their annual income. The top paying states for Nurse Practitioners include California ($90,000 per year), Texas ($81,000) and Florida ($80,000). NPs working in the states of New York, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Tennessee are paid between $70,000 and $80,000 per year.

Most Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) and Licensed Vocational Nurses (LVNs) can make between $7 and $22 an hour. LPNs and LVNs are a level lower than registered nurses but they can be employed at any health care level. Some of their duties include monitoring and reporting the condition of a patient, analyzing and recording vital signs, giving injections and dressing.

All nurses also have enticing recruitment bonuses which can be anything between $ 2,000 and $20,000. They are also usually given allowances to cover relocation costs, housing, day care and tuition payments.

If you thought that nurses earn peanuts, you had better change your mind. Nurses at different levels earn according to their specialty. The shortage of nurses makes the career quite a lucrative one. Nurses who start off at the lower levels have a chance of making their salaries better by getting an advanced level of nursing course certificate.