Registered nurses are one of the least happy careers in the United States.

At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, registered nurses rate their career happiness 2.7 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 13% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy registered nurses are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:

Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers

Career Satisfaction Avg Salary
Pharmacy technician
2.8
$18k
Medical administrative assistant
2.8
$19k
Neurodiagnostic technologist
2.8
$63k
Clinical nurse specialist
2.8
$83k
Medical billing and coding technician
2.7
$40k
Registered nurse
2.7
$71k
Nurse
2.7
$70k
Nuclear medicine technologist
2.7
$89k
Pharmacist
2.7
$107k
Orderly
2.6
$26k

So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:

  • Salary: Are registered nurses happy with their salary?
  • Meaning: Do registered nurses find their jobs meaningful?
  • Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as registered nurses?
  • Work environment: How enjoyable are registered nurse’s work environments?
  • Skills utilization: Are registered nurses making the best use of their abilities?

Are registered nurses happy with their salary?

Registered nurses rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.3/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most registered nurses having generally positive views of their salary.

We asked registered nurses how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:

3.3 out of 5 stars

1031 registered nurses

5 Star
15%

15% of registered nurses rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
34%

34% of registered nurses rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
25%

25% of registered nurses rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
16%

16% of registered nurses rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
9%

9% of registered nurses rated their compensation 1 stars

Do registered nurses find their jobs meaningful?

On average, registered nurses rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.2/5. Most tend to be satisified with the level of meaning they find in their careers.

We asked registered nurses how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:

3.2 out of 5 stars

1032 registered nurses

5 Star
20%

20% of registered nurses rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
24%

24% of registered nurses rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
24%

24% of registered nurses rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
19%

19% of registered nurses rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
12%

12% of registered nurses rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as registered nurses?

Registered nurses rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.7/5. The majority of registered nurses find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

We asked registered nurses how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:

3.7 out of 5 stars

1099 registered nurses

5 Star
29%

29% of registered nurses rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
32%

32% of registered nurses rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
22%

22% of registered nurses rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
11%

11% of registered nurses rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
6%

6% of registered nurses rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a registered nurse’s work environment?

As a whole, registered nurses rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.2/5. Most of them tend to enjoy, or at least not be actively bothered by, their work environment.

We asked registered nurses how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:

3.2 out of 5 stars

1100 registered nurses

5 Star
15%

15% of registered nurses rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
28%

28% of registered nurses rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
27%

27% of registered nurses rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
20%

20% of registered nurses rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
11%

11% of registered nurses rated their work environment 1 stars

Are registered nurses making the best use of their abilities?

Former registered nurses on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.3/5. Most registered nurses are satisfied with how well their abilities are skills are made of use.

We asked registered nurses how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:

3.3 out of 5 stars

1101 registered nurses

5 Star
20%

20% of registered nurses rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
26%

26% of registered nurses rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
27%

27% of registered nurses rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
19%

19% of registered nurses rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
8%

8% of registered nurses rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars