Sponsored School(s)
The Arkansas Department of Workforce Services included several advanced nursing professions on its list of the fastest growing occupations in the state. The Department based this evaluation on the percent of job growth expected during the ten-year period from 2012 to 2022:
- The Department ranked nurse educators as number three on its list with an expected growth rate of 45.33%
- Nurse practitioners ranked number 11 with an expected job growth rate of 30.86%
- Nurse anesthetists also made this list with an expected job growth rate of 21.96%
MSN-Educated Nurses in Arkansas Earn Salaries More than 50% Higher than Nurses that Lack This Credential
An analysis of the median salaries among nurse practitioners and RNs highlights the dramatic increase in salaries for nurses that obtain an MSN. Nurse practitioners hold a master’s degree at minimum, while RNs generally have a BSN or ADN as their highest degree.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics provided the median salary among nurse practitioners and RNs in Arkansas as of 2014:
Salaries For MSN-Educated Nurses in Arkansas
The Arkansas Department of Workforce Services provided an analysis of the range of salaries earned by MSN-educated nurses in Arkansas as of 2014. The median salary among nurse anesthetists was substantially higher than the median salary among other types of MSN-educated nurses:
Distribution of MSN-Educated Nurses in Arkansas in Terms of Role and Location
The Arkansas Center for Health Improvement published the Arkansas Health Care Workforce: A Guide for Policy Action in 2013. This document examined the availability of primary care providers such as physicians and APRNs in Arkansas as of 2012.
In many parts of the US, APRNs substitute for physicians in rural areas and help to augment the widespread primary care provider shortage in underserved areas. However this workforce analysis found that APRNs in Arkansas were no more likely to practice in rural, underserved areas than physicians were.
The greatest number of APRNs in Arkansas practiced in the central region of the state:
- Central – 37%
- Northwest – 28%
- Northeast – 20%
- Southwest – 8%
- Southeast – 7%
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing provided an analysis of the number of MSN-educated nurses in Arkansas. Fully two thirds of the 1,975 APRNs who were licensed in Arkansas in 2013 were nurse practitioners. The remaining APRNs included:
Salaries for Nurse Practitioners Throughout Arkansas
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the median salary among nurse practitioners in Hot Springs was higher than the median salary for NPs in other parts of the state as of 2014.
*The salary is equal to or greater than $90/hour or $187,199 a year. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics does not report salary information beyond these values.
Salaries for Nurse Anesthetists in the Major Metropolitan Areas of Arkansas
Shown below is a detailed analysis of the salaries for nurse anesthetists in the major metropolitan areas of Arkansas as of 2014. The median salary for nurse anesthetists in the Fayetteville area was so high it exceeded the values reported by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics:
*The salary is equal to or greater than $90/hour or $187,199 a year. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics does not report salary information beyond these values.