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Public Health Nursing Major

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Public Health Nursing

1,495 Bachelor's Degrees Annually
232 Master's Degrees Annually
#3 in Popularity
$75,510 Median Salary

Types of Degrees Public Health Nursing Majors Are Getting

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

Education Level Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree 1,581
Master’s Degree 283
Graduate Certificate 122
Doctor’s Degree 18
Basic Certificate 7

What Public Health Nursing Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to public health/community nursing were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Public Health/Community Nursing Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in public health/community 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.

Skills for Public Health/Community Nursing Majors

public health/community nursing majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

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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 Public Health/Community Nursing Majors

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a public health/community nursing student include the following:

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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.
  • Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
  • Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

What Can You Do With a Public Health Nursing Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with public health/community nursing:

Job Title Job Growth Rate Median Salary
Nursing Instructors and Professors 24.0% $73,490
Registered Nurses 14.8% $71,730

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Health Nursing?

1,581 Bachelor's Degrees Annually
87% Percent Women
40% Percent Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
This major is dominated by women with about 87% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of public health/community nursing majors is as follows:

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Race/Ethnicity Number of Grads
Asian 70
Black or African American 326
Hispanic or Latino 177
White 821
International Students 2
Other Races/Ethnicities 185

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Public Health/Community Nursing, too. About 0.1% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Public Health Nursing Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Average salaries range from $75,510 to $81,350 (25th to 75th percentile) for careers related to public health/community nursing. This range includes all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

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.

Median Salary for a Public Health Nursing Major  ( 75510 to 81350 )
0K
250K
Median Salary for a High School Graduate  ( 30000 to 57900 )
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250K
Median Salary for a Bachelor's Degree Holder  ( 45600 to 99000 )
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250K
Median Salary for an Advanced Degree Holder  ( 55600 to 125400 )
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250K

Some careers associated with public health/community 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 public health/community nursing careers below.

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Education Level Percentage of Workers
Some College Courses 5.8%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree) 36.1%
Bachelor’s Degree 15.1%
Master’s Degree 23.7%
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. 1.0%
Doctoral Degree 17.1%
Post-Doctoral Training 3.2%

Online Public Health 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 0
Certificate (2-4 Years) 0 0
Associate’s Degree 0 0
Bachelor’s Degree 5 2
Post-Baccalaureate 0 0
Master’s Degree 23 5
Post-Master’s 4 0
Doctor’s Degree (Research) 1 0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice) 4 0
Doctor’s Degree (Other) 1 1

Is a Degree in Public Health Nursing Worth It?

The median salary for a public health/community nursing grad is $75,510 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 89% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $712,200 after 20 years!

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Explore Major by State

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to public health/community nursing.

Major Number of Grads
Registered Nursing 262,974
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing 16,647
Nursing Practice 8,862
Nursing Administration 8,663
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing 4,717
Nursing Science 4,701
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing 2,895
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing 2,075
Nurse Anesthetist 1,768
Critical Care Nursing 747
Geriatric Nurse/Nursing 622
Nurse Midwife/Nursing Midwifery 567
School Nursing 539
Clinical Nurse Leader 502
Clinical Nurse Specialist 340
Perioperative/Operating Room and Surgical Nurse/Nursing 269
Women’s Health Nurse/Nursing 262
Maternal/Child Health and Neonatal Nurse/Nursing 192
Emergency Room/Trauma Nursing 87
Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing 26
Forensic Nursing 23
Palliative Care Nursing 13

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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