Registered Nurse
Health Science
Care for patients, run assessments, and coordinate treatment with the care team.
Why it matters here: Montgomery County health systems hire continuously; strong DMV demand.
Labor Market — DMV Region
Sourced from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS releases (DMV metro and nationwide) plus MD, VA, and D.C. workforce agencies.
Local cost of living is why DMV pay often differs from the national median.
- DMV & state figures: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — OEWS wage & employment estimates and Employment Projections, with OEWS area pay relatives for the Washington–Arlington–Alexandria metro, Maryland, D.C., and Northern Virginia · View source
- Occupation profiles & skills: O*NET OnLine (U.S. Department of Labor) · onetonline.org
All salary figures are published estimates for groups of workers, not offers or guarantees for any individual role.
Education & Career Pathways
Multiple ways to get here — pick the one that fits your life.
Career Progression
How you can grow — with expected salary at each step.
- Entry-level Registered NurseLearning the role, supervised work, building core skills.$81,750
- Registered Nurse (experienced)Independent work, mentoring newer team members.$93,820
- Senior / Lead Registered NurseOwning projects, specialization, higher responsibility.$115,540
- Manager or specialist trackSupervising a team or moving into a high-demand specialty.$138,648
Skills Required
What you'll actually do — and how you'll be judged.
Hospital or clinic floor, 12-hour shifts, constant patient contact
Where you work
A patient care unit inside a hospital, or an exam-room hallway in a clinic. You move between rooms, a supply room, and a shared charting station all shift.
Hours and schedule
Most hospital nurses work three 12-hour shifts a week, including some nights, weekends and holidays. Clinic nursing is closer to weekday business hours.
Pace and pressure
Busy and interruption-heavy. Plans change the moment a patient's condition does, so you re-prioritize several times a shift.
Who you work with
You work inside a care team — other nurses, techs, doctors, therapists, pharmacists — and you are the person families talk to most.
Physical demands
On your feet nearly the whole shift, with lifting, repositioning patients and long stretches of walking. Safe-lift equipment is standard.
What people wear
Unit-colored scrubs, closed shoes, badge, no long nails or dangling jewelry.
Remote reality
Bedside nursing is fully in person. Remote options exist later in triage, case management and telehealth.
Workplace culture: what's normal here
- Handoff at shift change is treated as sacred — you report every detail to the nurse taking over.
- Speaking up about a medication or order that looks wrong is expected of new nurses, not just senior ones.
- Charting is part of the job, not paperwork after it; documentation happens in real time.
- Debriefing after a hard patient outcome is normal, and units usually check on each other.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook — Work Environment, with regional detail for the DMV.
Official data behind this career
Federal statistics for DMV Region, translated into plain language.
Washington–Arlington–Alexandria, DC–VA–MD–WV metro area
Source: U.S. Census Bureau — ACS 2019–2023 5-year estimates (tables DP03, DP02, DP05)
- The DMV functions as one labor market: workers routinely cross state lines to get to work.
- The largest employment destinations are D.C., Fairfax County and Montgomery County.
Top places these workers go to work
Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — BEA regional GDP and personal income, most recent published year
Private-sector payroll data from ADP. It is a supplemental near-real-time indicator and does not replace BLS government employment statistics.
Source: ADP National Employment Report — Most recent monthly ADP National Employment Report
- 1U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OOH, OEWS, Employment Projections, CES) — Primary source for occupation wages, outlook, projected openings, education and training.
- 2U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey — Primary source for income, educational attainment, labor force and demographic context by place.
- 3Census LEHD (LODES / OnTheMap) — Primary source for where workers live versus where they work, and local workforce flows.
- 4U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Primary source for regional GDP, industry contribution, compensation and personal income.
- 5ADP National Employment Report — Supplemental near-real-time private-sector employment and pay indicator. Not a replacement for BLS.
Figures describe groups of workers, not any one person. Where an official figure is not published for a category, this page says “Data unavailable for this category.” rather than estimating.
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