Free Nursing Tools, Career Guides & Salary Data for Registered Nurses

BLS OEWS May 2025 · Projections 2025–2035
New contract


The recruiter quotes a blended rate. The IRS quotes another. Here's the number that  hits your account — pulled from 240 contracts, CMS data, and GSA stipends.

Calculate my real take-home Free · 90 seconds · No signup → 30+ Browse the toolkit
30+Free tools
240Real contracts
$0Forever
3.47MU.S. RNs
Vol. 04 · Spring 2026 · By nurses
Free tools, honest data Built by working nurses Travel pay · stipends · taxes · burnout 3.4M nurses can't be wrong No paywalls · Ever Free tools, honest data Built by working nurses Travel pay · stipends · taxes · burnout 3.4M nurses can't be wrong No paywalls · Ever
Ch. 01The data Data · BLS 2025

The numbers, uncluttered.

We update these monthly so you don't have to chart-hunt at 2 a.m. Click any chart to see methodology and the exact extract date.

Explore all data →

The APRN pay ladder

BLS OEWS
May 2025 · n=3.38M
CNA$42,700
LPN$67,050
RN$101,420
CNM$136,980
NP$137,300
CRNA$248,320

Where the 3.47M of us actually work

BLS OOH 29-1141
2025 · EP 2025–35
3.47MActive RNs
Hospitals59%
Ambulatory19%
Nursing / residential6%
Government5%
Education3%
Other8%
Ch. 02The toolkit Toolkit · Free forever

Tools that respect your time.

Pay calculators, license maps, ROI math, burnout self-checks. Each one runs in your browser, never asks for your email, and remembers you opened it.

All tools →
No. 01 · Most popular

Travel pay, after taxes.

Hourly + stipends + state taxes + duplicated expenses. The number that actually hits your account.

Calculator→
 No. 02

Stipend math, by GSA city.

Lodging + M&IE limits per location. Know your ceiling before the recruiter quotes you a low one.

Calculator→
 No. 03

Compact license map.

Which 41 states honor your license, which need a walk-through, which want a fingerprint card by Tuesday.

Reference→
 No. 04

Agency vs. staff, real numbers.

Side-by-side over 5 years, including PTO, retirement match, health premiums. Not the recruiter's math.

Calculator→
 No. 05

The BSN ROI calculator.

Tuition, lost wages, pay differential, break-even month. Tells you the truth in years, not in marketing copy.

Calculator→
 No. 06

Burnout weather report.

A 90-second self-check that doesn't lecture you. Outputs three things you can change this week.

Quiz→
Ch. 03The shift floor Clinical knowledge · 205 tips

A small hack for every shift.

Two hundred and five tips — from IV access to documentation — collected from working nurses across every specialty. The carousel cycles automatically; pause it any time.

View all 205 hacks →
Nurse Hack of the Day 205 hacks in rotation
IV Access

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1 / 205
Ch. 04The long reads Field guides · April 2026

Long reads for the 30-minute drive home.

No 12-step listicles. Each guide is reported, sourced, and edited by a working nurse. We update the numbers when the numbers change.

All 44 guides →
A hand holding a fan of US dollar bills against a clean white background
Cover story
$248,320 CRNA mean wage · BLS May 2025
Career · Highest-paying specialties

The specialties paying RNs over $130k — and what it actually costs to get there.

Recruiters quote you a blended rate. The IRS quotes you something else. The agency quotes you a third. We pulled BLS OEWS data and certification timelines for every advanced specialty and wrote down the answer in plain English.

Jayson Minagawa, BSN RN · 9 min · Updated April 2026
Read the piece →
Travel Nursing The complete travel nursing quick-start. Contracts, agencies, pay, lifestyle. Everything you need before you sign your first 13-week assignment. 12 min → Education The two-week NCLEX plan that actually worked. After 600 student emails, the pattern is consistent. Here's the schedule, the resources, the thing to skip. 9 min → Money Every federal & state nurse loan forgiveness program. PSLF, NURSE Corps, NHSC, plus state-by-state programs. With deadlines, eligibility, and how to actually apply. 10 min → EHR 80+ Epic SmartPhrases nurses copy-paste daily. Nursing assessments, vitals, patient education, discharge — searchable by specialty, all field-tested. 8 min → AI Tools Epic AI & Dragon Copilot are live on floors. Now what? Epic AI cuts end-of-shift note time 85%. Here's what's deployed today and how to get yours enabled. 11 min → Specialty ICU vs. ER vs. PCU: a cash-flow comparison. Differentials, overtime patterns, weekend frequency, certifications. Money you'll actually see by year three. 8 min → Liability Do RNs really need their own malpractice policy? What your hospital coverage doesn't actually cover, the $108 NSO option, and the four scenarios where personal liability saves your license. 7 min → Money Real nurse side gigs — and the MLM scams to skip. Telehealth triage, legal nurse consulting, chart review, NCLEX tutoring. Pay rates, hours, and the ones that actually work. 9 min → Free Tool The callout you wish you could send without the guilt-trip. Specialty-aware text + voicemail + return-to-work scripts. For comedy, catharsis, and the group chat — not for actually lying to your manager. tool →
Ch. 05The brief The Shift Report · weekly

One short email. Actual numbers.

Top-paying travel markets, emerging AI tools, and career hacks. Five-minute read at 6 a.m. Pacific. Read by working nurses. Unsubscribe any time.

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