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Public Health Nursing

Types of Degrees Public Health Nursing Majors Are Earning

People majoring in Public Health Nursing can earn degrees at several award levels.

Award Level	Graduates
Certificate	6
Bachelor’s Degree	1,199
Master’s Degree	289
Doctor’s Degree	11

What Public Health Nursing Majors Need to Know

Programs in Public Health Nursing emphasize a specific mix of knowledge, skills, and abilities — derived from O*NET surveys of workers in occupations that Public Health Nursing graduates commonly enter.

Knowledge Areas

According to O*NET, a major in Public Health Nursing emphasizes the following knowledge areas:

• Medicine and Dentistry — Importance 4.6 / 5; level 4.9 / 7.
• Psychology — Importance 4.5 / 5; level 6.0 / 7.
• English Language — Importance 4.3 / 5; level 4.7 / 7.
• Customer and Personal Service — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 5.4 / 7.
• Therapy and Counseling — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.8 / 7.

^{Importance is rated 1–5; level is 1–7. Source: ONET Online — weighted across related occupations.*}

Skills

The skill set built by a Public Health Nursing program reflects the day-to-day work of related occupations:

• Social Perceptiveness — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.4 / 7.
• Active Listening — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.
• Speaking — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.2 / 7.
• Critical Thinking — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.
• Reading Comprehension — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.

Abilities

Innate abilities most relevant to Public Health Nursing careers — again drawn from O*NET surveys of related occupations:

• Problem Sensitivity — Importance 4.2 / 5; level 4.8 / 7.
• Oral Expression — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.
• Deductive Reasoning — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.
• Oral Comprehension — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.8 / 7.
• Written Comprehension — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.

Common Job Activities

Day-to-day, Public Health Nursing graduates report doing:

Activity	Frequency / Importance
Assisting and Caring for Others	4.8 / 7
Documenting/Recording Information	4.6 / 7
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge	4.6 / 7
Getting Information	4.6 / 7
Making Decisions and Solving Problems	4.6 / 7
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships	4.5 / 7
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates	4.4 / 7
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events	4.3 / 7
Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work	4.3 / 7
Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards	4.3 / 7

Technology Skills Used on the Job

Most frequently-cited tools used by Public Health Nursing professionals:

Tool / Software	Category	In-Demand
Microsoft Office software	Office suite software	✓
Microsoft Outlook	Electronic mail software	—
Microsoft Word	Word processing software	—
Microsoft Excel	Spreadsheet software	—
Microsoft PowerPoint	Presentation software	—
eClinicalWorks EHR software	Medical software	—
Microsoft Access	Data base user interface and query software	—
Medical condition coding software	Medical software	—
MEDITECH software	Medical software	—
Web browser software	Internet browser software	—
Microsoft SharePoint	Document management software	—
Epic Systems	Medical software	—

^{Source: ONET Online technology skills, weighted across related occupations.*}

Sample Job Titles

Real job postings for Public Health Nursing graduates include:

• Pediatric Oncology Nurse
• Psychiatric RN (Psychiatric Registered Nurse)
• Staff Nurse
• Nurse
• Registered Nurse (RN)
• Charge Nurse
• PACU RN (Post Anesthesia Care Unit Registered Nurse)
• Geriatric Nurse
• Oncology RN (Oncology Registered Nurse)
• Central Supply Nurse
• Triage RN (Triage Registered Nurse)
• Relief Charge Nurse
• Industrial Staff Nurse
• Surgical RN (Surgery Registered Nurse)
• Certified Operating Room Nurse (CNOR)

What Can You Do With a Public Health Nursing Degree?

Graduates with a degree in Public Health Nursing commonly enter the following occupations:

Occupation	Job Growth	Median Salary	25th–75th Pctile
Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary	5.7%	$69,718	$58,585–$80,852

^{Job-growth = projected employment change for the parent occupation. Source: ONET / BLS Employment Projections.*}

Education Typically Required

Across the occupations open to Public Health Nursing graduates, the typical level of education actually held by current workers is distributed as:

Education Level	Share of Workers
Master’s degree	44.5%
Bachelor’s degree	24.3%
Doctoral degree	10.0%
Associate’s degree (or other 2-year)	8.9%
Postsecondary certificate	7.8%
First professional degree	1.4%
Post-doctoral training	1.4%
Post-master’s certificate	1.3%
High school diploma or equivalent	0.3%
Post-baccalaureate certificate	0.2%

^{Source: ONET Online education / training / experience requirements.*}

Who Is Earning a Degree in Public Health Nursing?

Gender Distribution

This field skews predominantly female, with women earning 89% of Public Health Nursing degrees.

Gender	Graduates	Share
Women	1,340	89.0%
Men	165	11.0%

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the national level, the racial-ethnic distribution of Public Health Nursing graduates is as follows:

Race / Ethnicity	Graduates	Share
White	829	55.1%
Asian	106	7.0%
Hispanic or Latino	52	3.5%
Black or African American	311	20.7%
American Indian / Alaska Native	10	0.7%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander	11	0.7%
Two or More Races	49	3.3%
Race Unknown	131	8.7%
International Students	6	0.4%

^{See minority definition below.}

How Much Do Public Health Nursing Graduates Earn?

Federal data tracks median earnings of Public Health Nursing graduates 1, 4, and 5 years after completion. Earnings tend to climb steadily as graduates gain experience and move into mid-career roles.

Years Out	Median Earnings
1 year	$83,453
4 years	$80,149
5 years	$90,156

By year 5 out, median earnings rise to $90,156 — roughly 8% above the 1-year mark.

^{Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, field-of-study earnings tracker.}

Online Public Health Nursing Programs

Distance learning is reported by IPEDS for Public Health Nursing. The table below shows how many graduates earned at least some of their coursework online (Distance-Ed Available) versus completing the entire program online (Distance-Ed Only).

Award Level	Distance-Ed Available	Distance-Ed Only
Master’s	6	2

^{Distance-Ed Only = degrees completed entirely online; Distance-Ed Available = degrees including at least some online coursework. Source: IPEDS Completions by Distance Education status.}

Is a Degree in Public Health Nursing Worth It?

Strictly by the federal earnings tracker, Public Health Nursing graduates earn a median of $80,149 four years after completion — roughly 111% above the national median for workers with only a high school diploma (~$38,000).

^{ROI estimate compares the program’s 4-yr median earnings against the 2023 BLS CPS median earnings for high-school-only workers. Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard + BLS Current Population Survey.}

Related Programs

You may also be interested in these closely related fields of study:

Program	Annual Degrees Awarded
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	311,372
Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse	256,965
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing	14,847
Nursing Practice	9,206
Nursing Administration	7,911
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing	4,379
Nursing Science	4,245
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing, Other	4,125
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing	2,457
Nurse Anesthetist	1,960
Geriatric Nurse/Nursing	641
Critical Care Nursing	596

References

The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students and international students. This number is then divided by the total number of students to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS)
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard

More about our data sources and methodologies.