Registered Nurse skills: what 196 recent job postings ask for

The skills most often requested in 196 US registered nurse job postings from the month before October 30, 2026 were Patient education (35%), Discharge planning (32%) and Medication management (32%). We counted which skills and qualifications each posting asks for; the share next to each skill is the percent of those postings that mention it.

What skills do registered nurse job postings ask for most?

  1. Patient education35%
  2. Discharge planning32%
  3. Medication management32%
  4. Clinical judgment31%
  5. BSN30%
  6. Disease management30%
  7. Case management29%
  8. HIPAA28%
  9. EMR27%
  10. Accredited nursing program24%
  11. Care planning24%
  12. CPR certification23%
  13. Acute Care22%
  14. ICU22%
  15. Med-Surg22%
  16. Skilled nursing care21%
  17. Valid driver's license21%
  18. Active RN license21%
  19. Homecare Homebase21%
  20. Interdisciplinary coordination21%

What changed since October 10, 2026

Asked for more often

  • BSN: up 21 points
  • Med-Surg: up 17 points
  • Active RN license: up 15 points
  • Acute Care: up 15 points
  • Bachelor of Science in Nursing: up 13 points

What do these postings pay, and how many are remote?

  • Median advertised pay: $87,000 a year, based on the midpoint of the range in the 48 postings that listed pay in US dollars.
  • 2% of postings were marked remote.

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What does a registered nurse do?

Assess patient health problems and needs, develop and implement nursing care plans, and maintain medical records. Administer nursing care to ill, injured, convalescent, or disabled patients. May advise patients on health maintenance and disease prevention or provide case management. Licensing or registration required.

Typical tasks

  • Record patients' medical information and vital signs.
  • Administer medications to patients and monitor patients for reactions or side effects.
  • Maintain accurate, detailed reports and records.
  • Monitor, record, and report symptoms or changes in patients' conditions.
  • Provide health care, first aid, immunizations, or assistance in convalescence or rehabilitation in locations such as schools, hospitals, or industry.
  • Other titles for this work: Certified Operating Room Nurse (CNOR), Charge Nurse, Emergency Department RN (Emergency Department Registered Nurse), Oncology RN (Oncology Registered Nurse), Operating Room Registered Nurse (OR RN), Psychiatric RN (Psychiatric Registered Nurse), Relief Charge Nurse, School Nurse.
  • U.S. median annual wage for Registered nurses in May 2025: $97,550. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This occupation-wide figure is not an estimate for a specific job.
  • O*NET lists this occupation as Bright Outlook (projected to grow quickly or have many openings).

Occupation details from O*NET OnLine (Registered Nurses, 29-1141.00) by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license.

How is this data collected?

Postings come from a job search data provider and are limited to US listings from the past month whose title matches this role. Each posting is read by the same keyword extractor behind our free resume match score, and a skill counts once per posting. Years-of-experience lines and the job title itself are not counted. The data refreshes about every three weeks.