online nursing degrees

An online nursing degree can be a perfect choice for someone looking to expand their career opportunities or for someone looking to embark on a new and challenging career. Nursing is the largest health care occupation, with more than 2 million jobs. It is one of the 10 occupations projected to have the largest numbers of new jobs in the coming years; therefore job opportunities are expected to be very good. Learn more about a career in nursing.

Below is a select list of online schools that offer online nursing degrees. If you are interested in other online health care degrees, visit our online health care degree page.

Exploring Nursing as a Career

Are you interested in nursing as a career? Nursing is a hot, in-demand career and one of the most sought-after professions in the world today. However, just because nurses are high in demand and needed all over the world-and are generally well paid-is not enough of a reason to become a nurse, although they certainly are contributing factors. For one thing, aspiring nurses generally need a desire to help people and make a real difference in their lives.

In addition, there are certain factors you will need to consider when thinking about becoming a nurse. First of all, recognize that it will be hard work, as most nurses end up doing shift work and working long hours, and many tasks require a degree of physical strength as well as overall physical endurance. In addition, you will need the desire to learn (obtain the education you need in the beginning as well as a willingness for lifelong learning), the ability to handle stress, pressure, and to deal with difficult patients, excellent communication and organizational skills, and have a caring attitude.

Job Setting

Nurses work in more than just hospitals. For example, you could become a nurse in a private clinic, a seniors' home or nursing home, at children's camps, in a school, a long-term care facility or other private company. You could also become a public health nurse or a home care nurse, or even self-employed. Even within the hospital, you could work in the emergency department, the pediatric department, the maternity ward, the intensive care unit and in many other areas.

Salary and Job Outlook

Nurses tend to make a nice income for themselves if they land a decent job and have some experience under their belt.

Salaries will vary depending on the experience of the nurse, the education of the nurse (for example, a LPN, RN or a BN), where they work and how many hours they work (casual, part time, full time, shift work, overtime, etc.).

However, generally speaking, most certified registered nurses can make between $20 and $50 USD per hour. You will probably also receive a reasonable signing bonus and contract, possibly be hired under a union, and have the option of taking your career anywhere in the world, as the world needs more nurses, and even receive moving expenses.

Nurses are high in demand, and as a result, jobs are almost guaranteed if you want to get into the nursing profession. There is a particularly noted nursing shortage in both the U.S. and Canada; a shortage that experts predict is only likely to increase in the near future. Of course, you will need to get the education you require in order to qualify for a nursing position, graduate successfully and complete your licensing, but it's likely that you will have more than one position to choose from when you're looking for a job.

Education and Licensing

Education and training is a requirement if you want to become a nurse. There are several different options for you, however, depending on what you want and what your specific career goals are.

For example, you can take a two-year college degree program, giving you an Associate of Science in Nursing, which is one of the most common routes to initial licensure as a nurse in the U.S. You can also choose to obtain a hospital diploma program, which is generally between two and three years, and here you usually take courses in areas like anatomy, physiology, chemistry and nutrition and then intensive nursing courses.

A Bachelor of Nursing is another option, which is a four-year degree program, often considered less "hands-on" and more academic in nature, focused on theory, but nevertheless prepares students to become nurses and even prepares them for graduate-level education, unlike other programs.

If you have completed your Bachelor of Science in Nursing, you can go on to advance your education at the master's and doctorate level, with a Master of Science in Nursing or a PhD in Nursing. A master's level education can prepare you for a career as a nurse practitioner (working in fields like pediatrics, midwifery, psychiatry, gerontology); a certified registered nurse anesthetist; or a clinical nurse specialist. If you choose to get a doctorate education, you can work in health-care administration, nursing education and clinical research, among other fields.

Any of these educational routes will allow the nursing student graduate to take the required NCLEX-RN, which is the licensing test in order to become a certified registered nurse in the U.S. The NCLEX-RN is considered to be the "final exam" of nursing as well as the official licensure test in order to become licensed and certified.

Typical Duties

The typical duties of a nurse can vary drastically depending on the particular position and location of work. You could be taking patient information (personal information, medical history and current symptoms, for example), assisting patients in daily care and health recovery, giving needles and taking blood, administering medication, assessing and monitoring patients, teaching and educating patients and more.

Depending on what specific education you have acquired, upon graduation from a nursing program, there is a variety of job titles. For example, you could be a registered nurse, a licensed practical nurse, a licensed vocational nurse, a midwife, a pediatric nurse, an emergency nurse, a clinical nurse specialist, a certified registered nurse anesthetist, a public health nurse or a nurse practitioner, among many other possible titles.

To learn more about a career in nursing, you may want to read our article A Day in the Life of a Nurse.

Is there an online nursing degree that we don't have listed? If we do not have a certain program listed that you know to be reputable, we would love to hear from you. Please email us regarding any programs that you think should be listed on our website.