Hospitals and other healthcare entities are increasing seeking highly skilled nurses to complement the work of doctors and provide high quality primary care to patients. In particular, nurses with MSNs are in demand, and many such professionals are licensed as advanced practice nurses such as nurse practitioners that are able to serve as primary care providers.
These MSN-educated nurses are highly rewarded for their level of expertise. For instance, the salaries of APRNs in Maryland ranged from 1.27 to 2.77 times that of staff nurses in 2014 according to the state’s Division of Labor and Industry.
There is a significant shortage of APRNs in Maryland according to the state’s Governor’s Workforce Investment Board. It found that hospitals in the state had a 12% vacancy rate for nurse midwives and a 7.3% rate for nurse practitioners in 2009.
A number of Maryland residents are seeking master’s degrees in nursing, and there were 1,795 MSN students in 2013 according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. Many of these students were specializing in APRN training with 804 graduate students obtaining this type of education that year.
Salary Comparison for APRN and Staff Nurses in Maryland
An analysis of the salaries of APRN specialists and staff nurses who typically have ADNs or BSNs demonstrates the increased earning power afforded by an MSN. The Maryland Division of Labor and Industry supplies such wage information for 2013:
An additional analysis that demonstrates the increase in earning power of nurses with MSNs is found in the results of the Advance Healthcare Network for Nurses 2012 salary survey of the Mid-Atlantic and lower great lakes region. MSN-educated staff nurses earned an average of $12,293 a year more than their colleagues with BSNs:
- MSN – $81,546
- BSN – $69,253
Salaries of Nurse Practitioners in Maryland’s Key Regions
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics provides information on the salaries of nurse practitioners in a number of regions of Maryland (2013). These professionals earned much higher salaries when they were located in the Baltimore or Hagerstown areas:
Nurse Anesthetists Salaries in Two Metropolitan Regions of Maryland
The salaries for nurse anesthetists in Maryland’s two largest metropolitan regions are provided by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (2013). Their salaries were very similar in the Baltimore area and the Washington, DC metropolitan area, which includes part of Maryland:
*These figures represent hourly wages that are at least $90.00 per hour or annual salaries that are at least $187,199. These are the maximum salaries reported by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics for Maryland.
Salaries for Nurse Midwives in Two Key Maryland Metropolitan Areas
Nurse midwife salaries are provided by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics for the two largest metropolitan areas of Maryland (2013). These professionals earned much higher salaries in the Baltimore area than those located in the Washington, DC metropolitan area: