Pick your nursing career, then the path to it

The backbone of patient care: assessment, medications, care coordination, and patient education across every setting from the ICU to the clinic.

How to get there: Earn an ADN (about 2 years) or a BSN (4 years), then pass the NCLEX-RN.

Diagnose, treat, and prescribe with real autonomy. In many states, nurse practitioners run their own panels and practice independently.

How to get there: As an RN with a BSN, earn an MSN or DNP in a nurse practitioner track.

Administer anesthesia and manage patients through surgery. One of the highest-paid and most autonomous roles in all of healthcare.

How to get there: RN + BSN + at least a year of ICU experience, then a doctoral nurse anesthesia program.

Diagnose and prescribe for mental health across the lifespan, one of the fastest-growing and most in-demand specialties in the country.

How to get there: RN + BSN, then an MSN or DNP with a psychiatric-mental health focus.

Manage pregnancy, birth, and well-woman care with prescriptive authority. A high-autonomy, high-demand advanced-practice role.

How to get there: RN + BSN, then an MSN in nurse-midwifery and AMCB certification.

Run units and departments, lead quality and policy, and shape how care is delivered at the system level.

How to get there: RN + BSN, then an MSN in nursing leadership or administration.

Teach the next generation of nurses in classrooms, simulation labs, and clinical settings, in a role facing a national faculty shortage.

How to get there: RN + BSN, then an MSN (or a doctorate for university faculty).

Hands-on basic nursing care under an RN or physician. The fastest way into paid nursing work, and a common springboard to RN.

How to get there: Complete a practical-nursing program (about 12 months), pass the NCLEX-PN, then bridge to RN.