Careers, task by task
Registered nurse
The most hours at the bedside: assessing, treating, watching for change and teaching, across every setting.
- Training
- A bachelor's degree is most common, and associate's routes exist
- Today's median pay, May 2025
- $97,550
- Projected job growth, 2025 to 2035
- 6%
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Last modified October 29, 2026
Occupational Outlook Handbook: Registered Nurses
Scope: United States.
How it was done: Federal employment and wage statistics. Pay is the May 2025 median, half earn more and half earn less. Growth is a 2025 to 2035 projection.
Limits: A median across all ages, regions and employers, before tax. A projection, not a promise. It tells you nothing about one person's income.
Checked against the original on November 6, 2026.
Open the source (opens in a new tab)A snapshot of people practicing today, not a forecast of your income.
The work, and what we can verify about AI in it
Task lists are our editorial summary of what the role involves. They vary by setting. The status describes the evidence we've checked, not whether a job is safe.
Assessing patients and recording symptoms
Judgment and accountability
Insufficient evidence
Insufficient evidence. We haven't verified a solid source on AI in this task yet. That's different from evidence that nothing is happening. If you know of one, send it to us.
Watching for sudden decline
Information work
Narrow use or authorization
- Emerging
Two sepsis prediction systems reported fewer deaths in large deployments: an 18.7% relative reduction across 13 Cleveland Clinic hospitals, and 17% across 6,217 admissions at UC San Diego Health.
What this does not prove: Reported from deployments, not randomized trials. These tools alert the care team. They don't replace it.
Stanford HAI, 2026
The 2026 AI Index Report, Chapter 6: Medicine
Scope: Global research, with U.S. data on FDA authorizations.
How it was done: An annual review that summarizes studies by other researchers.
Limits: A summary of studies with different designs. Each headline figure comes from one setup and does not generalize on its own.
Checked against the original on November 6, 2026.
Open the source (opens in a new tab)
Giving medicine and treatments
Hands-on work
Insufficient evidence
Insufficient evidence. We haven't verified a solid source on AI in this task yet. That's different from evidence that nothing is happening. If you know of one, send it to us.
Teaching patients and families
Human relationship
Insufficient evidence
Insufficient evidence. We haven't verified a solid source on AI in this task yet. That's different from evidence that nothing is happening. If you know of one, send it to us.
Coordinating with the care team
Judgment and accountability
Insufficient evidence
Insufficient evidence. We haven't verified a solid source on AI in this task yet. That's different from evidence that nothing is happening. If you know of one, send it to us.
Skills that transfer
- Clinical observation
- Physical care
- Advancing to practitioner roles
- Teaching
What nobody has measured
- How AI affects nurse staffing ratios.
- How much AI documentation helps nurses as opposed to physicians.
Read next
Sources last checked November 6, 2026
Next review by February 6, 2027.
What changed, and how we decideCareer guidance, not medical, legal or financial advice. For a major loan or licensing decision, talk with a qualified professional, and bring your questions from here.
Do you disagree?
If you have counterevidence, or we got something wrong, we want to see it. Don't take our word for any of this.
Send us the evidence