Earning a master’s degree in nursing allows you to no only work in higher-level jobs, but it also allows you to make more money. With a master’s degree, you can become an advanced practice nurse (APN) and earn a significant amount more than you can as an RN with just an associate’s degree or bachelor’s degree. Let’s take a look at what you can expect to earn in the nursing field with an advanced degree.

Degree by Type of Nurse

There are four main types of nursing paths from which to choose if you’re interested in becoming an APN and getting your masters of nursing. If you want to work in a clinical setting with patients, you can become a nurse practitioner. Those interested in research, teaching, and management can purchase the clinical nurse specialist. You can also choose to become a certified nurse midwife or a certified nurse anesthetist if these paths interest you. Here are the average salaries you can expect, based on the type of nurse you become:

• Nurse Practitioner: $89,787
• Clinical Nurse Specialist: $87,867
• Certified Nurse Midwife: $91,242
• Certified Nurse Anesthetist: $156,032

The more experience you have in your respective field, the more money you can expect to make.

Salary by Specialty

As you can see, becoming certified in the midwife or anesthetist fields is one way to make more money with your masters of nursing. As a nurse practitioner or clinical nurse specialist, you can also make more money by choosing a specialty where there’s a higher demand for nurses. In fields such as emergency/critical care, neonatal intensive care, and geriatrics, you can expect to make more money in many areas of the United States.

Travel Nursing

You can also make more money by working as a travel nurse. In some cases, travel nurses make up to double of their normal salaries. In this situation, you’ll work within a large network of hospitals and other facilities, moving from job to job in temporary positions as needed. The plus side is that you’ll be offered the higher salary, but in this type of position, you may be living in a location for as little as four weeks and although you might have a “home base,” you’ll rarely stay in a location for over a year. So, this option works best for someone without family obligations.