---

Women’s Health Nursing

A program that prepares registered nurses to provide health care specific to women. Includes instruction in the wellness and care of women, gynecology, obstetrics, advanced nursing practices for women, evidence-based nursing practice, advanced physiology and pathophysiology, advanced pharmacology, and pharmacotherapeutics. Examples: [Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner]

Types of Degrees Women’s Health Nursing Majors Are Earning

Those studying Women’s Health Nursing can earn degrees at several award levels.

Award Level	Graduates
Master’s Degree	319
Doctor’s Degree	4

What Women’s Health Nursing Majors Need to Know

Studies in Women’s Health Nursing build a specific mix of knowledge, skills, and abilities — derived from O*NET surveys of workers in occupations that Women’s Health Nursing graduates commonly enter.

Knowledge Areas

This major prepares you for careers needing Women’s Health Nursing emphasizes the following knowledge areas:

• Medicine and Dentistry — Importance 4.6 / 5; level 4.9 / 7.
• Psychology — Importance 4.5 / 5; level 6.0 / 7.
• English Language — Importance 4.3 / 5; level 4.7 / 7.
• Customer and Personal Service — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 5.4 / 7.
• Therapy and Counseling — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.8 / 7.

^{Importance is rated 1–5; level is 1–7. Source: ONET Online — weighted across related occupations.*}

Skills

Skills built by a Women’s Health Nursing program reflects the day-to-day work of related occupations:

• Social Perceptiveness — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.4 / 7.
• Active Listening — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.
• Speaking — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.2 / 7.
• Critical Thinking — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.
• Reading Comprehension — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.

Abilities

Innate abilities most relevant to Women’s Health Nursing careers — again drawn from O*NET surveys of related occupations:

• Problem Sensitivity — Importance 4.2 / 5; level 4.8 / 7.
• Oral Expression — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.
• Deductive Reasoning — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.
• Oral Comprehension — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.8 / 7.
• Written Comprehension — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.

Common Job Activities

Day-to-day, Women’s Health Nursing graduates report doing:

Activity	Frequency / Importance
Assisting and Caring for Others	4.8 / 7
Documenting/Recording Information	4.6 / 7
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge	4.6 / 7
Getting Information	4.6 / 7
Making Decisions and Solving Problems	4.6 / 7
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships	4.5 / 7
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates	4.4 / 7
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events	4.3 / 7
Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work	4.3 / 7
Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards	4.3 / 7

Technology Skills Used on the Job

Most frequently-cited tools used by Women’s Health Nursing professionals:

Tool / Software	Category	In-Demand
Microsoft Office software	Office suite software	✓
Microsoft Word	Word processing software	—
Microsoft Outlook	Electronic mail software	—
Microsoft Excel	Spreadsheet software	—
Microsoft PowerPoint	Presentation software	—
eClinicalWorks EHR software	Medical software	—
Microsoft Access	Data base user interface and query software	—
Medical condition coding software	Medical software	—
MEDITECH software	Medical software	—
Web browser software	Internet browser software	—
Epic Systems	Medical software	—
Microsoft SharePoint	Document management software	—

^{Source: ONET Online technology skills, weighted across related occupations.*}

Sample Job Titles

Real job postings for Women’s Health Nursing graduates include:

• Pediatric Oncology Nurse
• Psychiatric RN (Psychiatric Registered Nurse)
• Staff Nurse
• Nurse
• Registered Nurse (RN)
• Charge Nurse
• PACU RN (Post Anesthesia Care Unit Registered Nurse)
• Neonatal Intensive Care Registered Nurse (NICU RN)
• County Nurse
• Emergency Room Nurse (ER Nurse)
• Dialysis Registered Nurse (Dialysis RN)
• Central Supply Nurse
• Trauma Nurse
• Occupational Nurse
• Perinatal Nurse

What Can You Do With a Women’s Health Nursing Degree?

Graduates with a degree in Women’s Health Nursing commonly enter the following occupations:

Occupation	Job Growth	Median Salary	25th–75th Pctile
Registered Nurses	10.2%	$105,741	$83,923–$127,558
Nurse Practitioners	3.3%	$147,651	$118,713–$176,588
Clinical Nurse Specialists	12.3%	$52,889	$43,554–$62,224
Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurses	0.0%	$143,854	$116,411–$171,298
Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary	5.7%	$69,718	$58,585–$80,852
Critical Care Nurses	14.4%	$65,103	$50,966–$79,241
Acute Care Nurses	4.1%	$56,247	$48,254–$64,241

^{Job-growth = projected employment change for the parent occupation. Source: ONET / BLS Employment Projections.*}

Education Typically Required

Across the occupations open to Women’s Health Nursing graduates, the typical level of education actually held by current workers is distributed as:

Education Level	Share of Workers
Master’s degree	44.5%
Bachelor’s degree	24.3%
Doctoral degree	10.0%
Associate’s degree (or other 2-year)	8.9%
Postsecondary certificate	7.8%
First professional degree	1.4%
Post-doctoral training	1.4%
Post-master’s certificate	1.3%
High school diploma or equivalent	0.3%
Post-baccalaureate certificate	0.2%

^{Source: ONET Online education / training / experience requirements.*}

Who Is Earning a Degree in Women’s Health Nursing?

Gender Distribution

This field skews predominantly female, with women earning 99.4% of Women’s Health Nursing degrees.

Gender	Graduates	Share
Women	321	99.4%
Men	2	0.6%

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the national level, the racial-ethnic distribution of Women’s Health Nursing graduates is as follows:

Race / Ethnicity	Graduates	Share
White	202	62.5%
Asian	19	5.9%
Hispanic or Latino	35	10.8%
Black or African American	51	15.8%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander	1	0.3%
Two or More Races	13	4.0%
Race Unknown	2	0.6%

^{See minority definition below.}

How Much Do Women’s Health Nursing Graduates Earn?

Federal data tracks median earnings of Women’s Health Nursing graduates 1, 4, and 5 years after completion. Earnings tend to climb steadily as graduates gain experience and move into mid-career roles.

Years Out	Median Earnings
1 year	$83,453
4 years	$80,149
5 years	$90,156

By year 5 out, median earnings rise to $90,156 — roughly 8% above the 1-year mark.

^{Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, field-of-study earnings tracker.}

Online Women’s Health Nursing Programs

Fully online options is tracked by IPEDS for Women’s Health Nursing. The table below shows how many graduates earned at least some of their coursework online (Distance-Ed Available) versus completing the entire program online (Distance-Ed Only).

Award Level	Distance-Ed Available	Distance-Ed Only
Master’s	2	3

^{Distance-Ed Only = degrees completed entirely online; Distance-Ed Available = degrees including at least some online coursework. Source: IPEDS Completions by Distance Education status.}

Is a Degree in Women’s Health Nursing Worth It?

On the earnings side, the federal earnings tracker, Women’s Health Nursing graduates earn a median of $80,149 four years after completion — roughly 111% above the national median for workers with only a high school diploma (~$38,000).

^{ROI estimate compares the program’s 4-yr median earnings against the 2023 BLS CPS median earnings for high-school-only workers. Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard + BLS Current Population Survey.}

Related Programs

You may also be interested in these closely related fields of study:

Program	Annual Degrees Awarded
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	311,372
Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse	256,965
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing	14,847
Nursing Practice	9,206
Nursing Administration	7,911
Nursing Science	4,245
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing, Other	4,125
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing	2,457
Nurse Anesthetist	1,960
Public Health/Community Nurse/Nursing	1,505
Geriatric Nurse/Nursing	641
Critical Care Nursing	596

References

The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students and international students. This number is then divided by the total number of students to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS)
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard

More about our data sources and methodologies.