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Geriatric Nursing Major

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Geriatric Nursing

0 Bachelor's Degrees Annually
454 Master's Degrees Annually
#14 in Popularity

Types of Degrees Geriatric Nursing Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many geriatric nurse/nursing graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level Number of Grads
Master’s Degree 443
Graduate Certificate 81
Doctor’s Degree 42

What Geriatric Nursing Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to geriatric 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 Geriatric Nursing Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in geriatric nursing should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

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  • 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 Geriatric Nursing Majors

A major in geriatric nursing prepares you for careers in which the following skill-sets are crucial:

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  • 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 Geriatric Nursing Majors

As you progress with your geriatric nursing degree, there are several abilities you should pick up that will help you in whatever related career you choose. These abilities include:

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  • 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.
  • Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
  • Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).

What Can You Do With a Geriatric Nursing Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with geriatric 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

Some careers associated with geriatric 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.

Find out what the typical degree level is for geriatric nursing careers below.

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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 Geriatric 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) 0 0
Certificate (2-4 Years) 0 0
Associate’s Degree 0 0
Bachelor’s Degree 9 3
Post-Baccalaureate 0 0
Master’s Degree 39 15
Post-Master’s 40 0
Doctor’s Degree (Research) 1 0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice) 8 3
Doctor’s Degree (Other) 0 0

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to geriatric nursing.

Major Number of Grads
Registered Nursing 253,629
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing 15,154
Nursing Practice 9,216
Nursing Administration 8,050
Nursing Science 4,481
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing 4,364
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing 3,261
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing 2,295
Public Health/Community Nurse/Nursing 1,963
Nurse Anesthetist 1,939
Critical Care Nursing 652
Nurse Midwife/Nursing Midwifery 538
School Nursing 508
Clinical Nurse Leader 447
Clinical Nurse Specialist 292
Women’s Health Nurse/Nursing 288
Perioperative/Operating Room and Surgical Nurse/Nursing 208
Maternal/Child Health and Neonatal Nurse/Nursing 135
Emergency Room/Trauma Nursing 76
Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing 29
Forensic Nursing 20
Palliative Care Nursing 3

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.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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