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

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

• 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

practical nursing majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

• 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.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Abilities for Practical Nursing Majors

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a practical nursing student include the following:

• 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?

This is one of the most frequently chosen nursing majors. It is the 2nd most popular in the country with 239 students graduating with a bachelor’s in practical nursing in 2021. This major is dominated by women with about 86% of recent graduates being female.

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. 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 practical nursing have obtained the following education levels.

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

Majors Related to Practical Nursing

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

Major	Number of Grads
Nursing	308,114

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.