Mississippi has faced a shortage of nurses for a number of years, and MSN-educated nurses such as advanced practice nurses are critical to providing high quality patient care. This is particularly true for rural areas that frequently face a shortage of physicians.
Nurses such as APRNs are highly compensated for their additional education and enhanced knowledge of patient care. For instance, the salaries of APRNs in Mississippi were 1.62 to 2.57 times higher than those of staff nurses according to the state’s Department of Employment Security.
The Mississippi Office of Nursing Workforce provides a detailed analysis of the number and types of MSN students from a 2012 survey of nursing schools. It reported that 219 students expected to graduate with MSN degrees that year. This represented a 39% increase between 2011 and 2012.
Virtually all of the 252 new admissions were for generic MSN programs. Only 12 of these students were enrolled in RN-MSN bridge programs. While the number of enrollees stayed about the same between 2011 and 2012, the percentage of full time students increased by 13.1% during this period.
In addition to using their education in clinical practice, a number of MSN-educated nurses planned to join the faculty at nursing schools. Forty-five of the MSN graduates had completed courses specific to nursing education. This is an increase of more than two fold since 2009.
A Comparison of APRN and Staff Nurse Salaries in Mississippi
The salary increase for MSN-educated nurses such as APRNs is readily apparent when compared to those of staff nurses who generally have BSN or ADN degrees. The Mississippi Department of Employment Security provides such salary information for 2014:
Further evidence that having an MSN increases earning potential is found in the 2012 salary survey of nurses in the southern US, as published by the Advance Healthcare Network for Nurses. The results revealed that MSN-educated staff RNs in this region earned an average of $13,570 more than their colleagues with BSNs:
- MSN $74,539
- BSN $60,969
Nurse Practitioner Salaries in Key Regions of Mississippi
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the salaries for nurse practitioners in key metropolitan and non-metropolitan regions of Mississippi. The median salary was substantially higher for nurse practitioners located in the northwest nonmetropolitan part of the state (2013):
Memphis Salaries for Nurse Anesthetists
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics provides 2013 salary data for nurse anesthetists in the Memphis area: