Practical Nursing
Types of Degrees Practical Nursing Majors Are Getting
The following table lists how many practical nursing & nursing assistants graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.
| Education Level | Number of Grads |
|---|---|
| Basic Certificate | 44,253 |
| Undergraduate Certificate | 42,270 |
| Associate Degree | 2,219 |
| Bachelor’s Degree | 51 |
| Graduate Certificate | 15 |
| Doctor’s Degree | 1 |
What Practical Nursing Majors Need to Know
In an O*NET survey, practical 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 Practical Nursing Majors
Practical Nursing majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:
- 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.
- 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.
- Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Skills for Practical Nursing Majors
A major in practical nursing prepares you for careers in which the following skill-sets are crucial:
- Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
- 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.
- Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Abilities for Practical Nursing Majors
Practical Nursing majors often go into careers where the following abilities are vital:
- Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
- Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
- Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
What Can You Do With a Practical Nursing Major?
Below is a list of occupations associated with practical nursing:
| Job Title | Job Growth Rate | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses | 12.3% | $46,240 |
| Nursing Assistants | 11.5% | $28,540 |
Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Practical Nursing?
Racial-Ethnic Diversity
At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of practical nursing majors is as follows:
| Race/Ethnicity | Number of Grads |
|---|---|
| Asian | 0 |
| Black or African American | 7 |
| Hispanic or Latino | 41 |
| White | 0 |
| International Students | 3 |
| Other Races/Ethnicities | 0 |
Geographic Diversity
Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Practical Nursing. About 5.9% of those with this major are international students.
Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Practical Nursing
Some careers associated with practical nursing require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.
Find out what the typical degree level is for practical nursing careers below.
| Education Level | Percentage of Workers |
|---|---|
| Less than a High School Diploma | 2.7% |
| High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED) | 21.6% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production) | 36.6% |
| Some College Courses | 25.1% |
| Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree) | 13.0% |
| Bachelor’s Degree | 0.8% |
| 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. | 0.2% |
Online Practical Nursing Programs
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) | 1,125 | 6 |
| Certificate (2-4 Years) | 59 | 0 |
| Associate’s Degree | 115 | 3 |
| Bachelor’s Degree | 2 | 1 |
| Post-Baccalaureate | 0 | 0 |
| Master’s Degree | 0 | 0 |
| Post-Master’s | 1 | 0 |
| Doctor’s Degree (Research) | 0 | 0 |
| Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice) | 1 | 1 |
| Doctor’s Degree (Other) | 0 | 0 |
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Majors Related to Practical Nursing
You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to practical nursing.
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.
- College Factual
- College Scorecard
- National Center for Education Statistics
- O*NET Online
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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