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Nurses in Alaska who obtain an MSN can increase their salaries by $20,000 or more a year. While nurse practitioners and other advanced practice registered nurses (APRN) are required to have a master’s degree, RNs rarely possess this credential.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics provides the salaries for MSN-educated nurses in different parts of Alaska as of 2014. Comparing the median salary among nurse practitioners in these areas with the median salary among RNs in the same areas demonstrates the increased earning power that comes with earning an MSN:
2014 data from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing indicated that 1,040 APRNs were licensed to practice in Alaska that year. More than three quarters of Alaska’s APRNs are nurse practitioners. Nurse anesthetists comprise the second highest component of advanced practice registered nurses in Alaska at nearly 14%, while nurse midwives were in third place with 8%. The remaining 1.9% of APRNs in Alaska are clinical nurse specialists.
Most MSN-Educated Nurses in Alaska Earn More Than the National Average for their Profession
Nurse anesthetists in Alaska earn the highest average salary among MSN-educated nurses in the state, with an average salary of $147,156 a year according to the state’s Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Nurse practitioners in Alaska were the second highest paid in the country in 2014 according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nurse educators in Alaska also earned unusually high salaries and were the fourth highest paid in the country that year.
Other types of nurses in Alaska with MSNs earned an average salary that was substantially higher than the national average for their APRN role:
Salaries of Nurse Practitioners in Anchorage and the Major Nonmetropolitan Parts of Alaska
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) provides expanded detail on the salaries of nurse practitioners in Anchorage and the nonmetropolitan areas of Southeast Alaska and Railbelt/Southwest Alaska as of 2014. Nurse practitioners in rural Southeast Alaska earning in the 90th percentile earned an average salary that was so high it exceeded the maximum values provided by the BLS:
*This value is equal to or greater than $90 an hour or $187,199 a year. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics does not provide salary data beyond this threshold.