Adult Health Nursing
Featured schools near , edit
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
O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to adult health nursing and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.
Knowledge Areas for Adult Health Nursing Majors
According to O*NET survey takers, a major in adult health nursing should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

- 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:

- 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
Adult Health 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.
- 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?
Below is a list of occupations associated with adult health nursing:
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?
Racial-Ethnic Diversity
At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of adult health nursing majors is as follows:

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
Adult Health Nursing majors often go into careers where salaries can range from $75,510 to $110,030 (25th to 75th percentile). 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.
Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Adult Health Nursing
Some careers associated with adult health nursing require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. 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.

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 2020-2021, 121 schools offered a adult health nursing program of some type. 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!

Explore Major by State
Alabama
California
District of Columbia
Idaho
Kansas
Maryland
Mississippi
Nevada
New York
Oklahoma
South Carolina
Utah
West Virginia
Alaska
Colorado
Florida
Illinois
Kentucky
Massachusetts
Missouri
New Hampshire
North Carolina
Oregon
South Dakota
Vermont
Wisconsin
Majors Related to Adult Health Nursing
You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to adult health 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
- Image Credit: By Aleksahgabrielle under License
More about our data sources and methodologies.
Featured Schools
![]() |
Southern New Hampshire University You have goals. Southern New Hampshire University can help you get there. Whether you need a bachelor's degree to get into a career or want a master's degree to move up in your current career, SNHU has an online program for you. Find your degree from over 200 online programs. Learn More > |