Increasingly, management level nursing positions require a graduate degree in nursing or health services administration. They also require leadership, negotiation skills and good judgment. Graduate programs preparing executive level nurses usually last 1 to 2 years. Within patient care, nurses can advance to clinical nurse specialist, nurse practitioner, certified nurse-midwife or certified registered nurse anesthetist. These positions require 1 or 2 years of graduate education, leading in most instances to a master's degree or a certificate.
Some nurses move into the business side of health care.
Their nursing expertise and experience on a health care team equip them to manage ambulatory, acute, home health and chronic care services. Some are employed by health care corporations in health planning and development, marketing and quality assurance. Many employers offer flexible work schedules, child care, educational benefits and bonuses. As the largest health care occupation, registered nurses held about 1,971,000 jobs in 1996. About 2 out of 3 jobs were in hospitals, in both inpatient and outpatient departments.