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Adult Health Nursing Major

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Adult Health Nursing

163 Bachelor's Degrees Annually
1,456 Master's Degrees Annually
#66 in Popularity
$81,350 Median Salary

Types of Degrees Adult Health Nursing Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many adult health nurse/nursing graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level Number of Grads
Master’s Degree 1,456
Graduate Certificate 296
Bachelor’s Degree 163
Doctor’s Degree 72
Associate Degree 34

What Adult Health Nursing Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, adult health nursing 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 Adult Health Nursing Majors

Adult Health Nursing majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

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  • 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.
  • 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.
  • English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
  • 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.
  • 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 Adult Health Nursing Majors

When studying adult health nursing, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

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  • 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.
  • Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
  • Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
  • Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
  • Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Abilities for Adult Health Nursing Majors

A major in adult health nursing will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

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  • Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
  • Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

What Can You Do With a Adult Health Nursing Major?

People with a adult health nursing degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title Job Growth Rate Median Salary
Nurse Practitioners 36.1% $107,030
Nursing Instructors and Professors 24.0% $73,490
Registered Nurses 14.8% $71,730

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Adult Health Nursing?

163 Bachelor's Degrees Annually
87% Percent Women
36% Percent Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
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 adult health nursing majors is as follows:

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Race/Ethnicity Number of Grads
Asian 10
Black or African American 15
Hispanic or Latino 18
White 83
International Students 15
Other Races/Ethnicities 22

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Adult Health Nursing, too. About 9.2% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Adult Health Nursing Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Average salaries range from $75,510 to $110,030 (25th to 75th percentile) for careers related to adult health nursing. This range includes all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Median Salary for an Adult Health Nursing Major  ( 75510 to 110030 )
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250K
Median Salary for a High School Graduate  ( 30000 to 57900 )
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250K
Median Salary for a Bachelor's Degree Holder  ( 45600 to 99000 )
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250K
Median Salary for an Advanced Degree Holder  ( 55600 to 125400 )
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250K

Some degrees associated with adult health nursing may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. 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.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to adult health nursing have obtained the following education levels.

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Education Level Percentage of Workers
Some College Courses 4.1%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree) 25.3%
Bachelor’s Degree 10.6%
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. 1.0%
Master’s Degree 41.9%
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. 1.7%
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. 1.0%
Doctoral Degree 14.0%
Post-Doctoral Training 2.2%

Online Adult Health Nursing Programs

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 121 schools offered some type of adult health nurse/nursing program. 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) 0 0
Certificate (2-4 Years) 0 0
Associate’s Degree 1 0
Bachelor’s Degree 16 2
Post-Baccalaureate 0 0
Master’s Degree 78 15
Post-Master’s 68 0
Doctor’s Degree (Research) 7 2
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice) 18 3
Doctor’s Degree (Other) 2 1

Is a Degree in Adult Health Nursing Worth It?

The median salary for a adult health nursing grad is $81,350 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 104% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $829,000 after 20 years!

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

Major Number of Grads
Registered Nursing 266,651
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing 16,104
Nursing Administration 9,838
Nursing Practice 7,992
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing 5,092
Nursing Science 4,600
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing 2,287
Nurse Anesthetist 1,936
Public Health/Community Nurse/Nursing 1,883
Critical Care Nursing 773
Geriatric Nurse/Nursing 563
School Nursing 553
Nurse Midwife/Nursing Midwifery 509
Clinical Nurse Leader 444
Clinical Nurse Specialist 419
Perioperative/Operating Room and Surgical Nurse/Nursing 331
Maternal/Child Health and Neonatal Nurse/Nursing 181
Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing 57
Emergency Room/Trauma Nursing 53
Palliative Care Nursing 14
Forensic Nursing 14

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.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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