A nurse leader sees the big picture without losing sight of the day-to-day. They are active in helping organizations move forward in response to an evolving healthcare industry.

Leaders in nursing have the administrative understanding and business expertise to make educated decisions and achieve the optimal balance between what’s best for the organization and what’s best for the patient(s). The importance of nursing leadership is highly evident when organizations struggle to find this balance.

Read more about the most important qualities and characteristics of leadership in nursing and what it takes to earn a higher level of roles and responsibilities as a nurse.

Nursing administrators fall under the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) medical and health services manager category. According to the BLS, the average salary for medical health and service managers is $134,440 per year ($64.64 per hour).*

Discover how much nurse administrators can make by state and find salary estimates in the area near you.

Here’s a selection of the most common types of nurse practitioners:

• Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP)
• Adult Gerontology Nurse Practitioner (AGNP)
• Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (PNP)
• Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP)
• Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner (WHNP)

Each specialty has its own unique requirements in terms of job experience and certification.

You can begin working towards the terminal degree in nursing right from the start and reach that goal faster by choosing a BSN to DNP specialization. You may earn a leg up on the competition for jobs in your specialty by earning a DNP, and you’ll develop a unique set of advanced knowledge and skills an MSN program doesn’t offer.

However, if your primary goal is to first establish yourself in a specialty, the BSN to MSN path might be a better fit. You can always return to school in the future and go from MSN to DNP in our online DNP program.

Nurse practitioner represents an advanced practice role in nursing—it’s not an easy job, and our goal is to prepare you best for success! We strive to keep coursework manageable, but provide you with the knowledge, skills, and valuable clinical experiences to succeed as a nurse practitioner.

Our goal is to help you balance the challenge of an NP curriculum with everything else in your life, including your work, family and friends. You can take courses at the right pace for you, so you can get the most out of going back to school and be ready to practice as a nurse practitioner.

After earning a master’s degree you may pursue further nursing credentials in a post-master’s certificate in nursing program. Herzing offers multiple certificate options with specializations in:

• Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (AGACNP)
• Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner (AGNP/AGPCNP)
• Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP)
• Nursing Education (Nurse Educator - NE)
• Nursing Leadership & Administration (NLA)
• Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (PNP)
• Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP)
• Public Health (PH)

After earning master's-level preparation in the specialty of your choosing, you can then advance to the doctorate level by enrolling in our online Post Master's DNP program.

Earning an MSN or DNP represents a huge step forward in your education, but there is always more to learn. We are your lifelong partner in learning, dedicated to helping you earn the education needed to reach your highest career goals.

There are many different types of nursing leadership styles with varying levels of effectiveness depending on the working environment, including:

• Democratic
• Transformational
• Authoritarian (or "autocratic")
• Transactional
• Laissez-faire

...among several others. There are many unique theories of nursing leadership you’ll want to become familiar with throughout your development as a nurse leader. Understanding the right leadership techniques for you and your colleagues is crucial to keep morale high, ensure lines of communication are clear, maximize productivity and improve patient care.

Increasingly yes, but it ultimately depends on the institution who issued the degree.

As the popularity of online degrees continues to rapidly trend upward in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, so has mainstream acceptance of online degree programs.

Attitudes toward online degrees were already becoming more positive before the pandemic forced the issue. According to a 2019 study from Northeastern University, 61 percent of HR leaders say online learning is “of equal or greater quality to more traditional methods.” More than half believe that in the future, most advanced degrees will be online.

Regarding nursing applicants who earned online degrees, there are a few important factors employers consider:

• The school and degree program’s accreditation. Herzing University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) and programmatically accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).ⁱ
• If you have earned nursing licensure. Our programs are designed to help you pass any necessary exams and become licensed before getting your first job.
• The school’s reputation and history of producing excellent employees. Consider our many happy graduates and 50+ years producing more than 40,000 alumni.

For all these reasons employers know what it means when they see “Herzing University” on a resume!

i. Programmatic accreditation varies by program and by campus location. Find details about all Herzing University accreditations and approvals.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nurse practitioners earn an average salary of $128,490 per year ($61.78 per hour). Pay depends on many factors, including your location, what healthcare institution you work for and your level of experience.*

Discover the average nurse practitioner salary by state and find out what nurse practitioners make on average near you.

Sometimes hospitals form partnerships with schools like ours to provide employees with unique benefits should they choose to pursue an advanced nursing degree.

Employees of Herzing partners can potentially earn college credit for prior work or military experience, transfer existing credit, or earn a scholarship to make going back to school more affordable.

If you are currently an RN considering becoming a nurse practitioner, view our educational partnerships or check with your employer for potential possibilities.