Long Term Care Nurse Salary Guide

Between 2019 and 2029, employment of registered nurses is expected to grow 7%, primarily due to an aging population. Because long-term care nurses play a significant role in caring for older patients, demand in this specialty is also expected to grow. LTC nurses work in facilities that care for patients who are elderly, disabled, or impacted by chronic conditions. These facilities include skilled nursing facilities, continuing care retirement communities, and assisted living communities. LTC RNs may also be employed by home health agencies, hospices, long-term acute care hospitals, and rehabilitation centers. Work setting along with other factors impact a long-term care RN's salary.

Long-term care nurses are registered nurses who specialize in working with patients needing care for an extended period due to a long-term disability, injury, illness, or medical condition. Patients tend to be elderly but can be of varying ages. LTC nurses help develop and implement long-term care plans for patients by working with other members of an interdisciplinary team. They perform various nursing tasks as they provide direct patient care and respond to changes in each patient’s status.

To become a long-term care nurse, you must earn an associate or bachelor’s degree from a nursing program accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) or the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN). Upon graduation, you must pass the NCLEX-RN licensing exam and complete training to earn Basic Life Support certification.

A long-term care RN's salary may be based on several factors, but education and license aren’t necessarily among them. Nurses can enter this field with just an ADN and though a BSN could increase employability, it may not affect salary much. The only license required is your RN license, so it’s a given not a salary basis. What can impact starting salaries are years of nursing experience, relevant skills obtained, and employment location.

Years of experience can impact salary for any professional, including nurses. However, it also helps increase relevant skills so it potentially affects salary twice. Experienced LTC nurses may earn higher starting salaries because they’ve developed strong analytical and critical thinking skills over the years, providing them with a better perspective on how to make a difference in their patients’ lives. Over time, LTC nurses also master multitasking and time management skills to help them more effectively manage substantial caseloads of patients with various comorbidities. These along with other additional skills developed through experience can impact an LTC RN’s base salary.

Location of employment is also two-fold because it includes the type of facility that employs you and the physical location of this facility. LTC nurses can work in various healthcare facilities and some pay more than others. Large long-term acute care hospitals generally have more funding for salaries than small skilled nursing facilities and facilities in metro areas usually have higher base salaries than those in rural areas. Certain cities and even states also have higher starting salaries, but this is often due to a higher cost of living.

LTC nurses aren’t usually required to earn an advanced degree but pursuing certain coursework can potentially boost your salary. Elective courses in gerontology may be particularly helpful. To advance in your career and get a bigger pay bump, consider pursuing a Director of Nursing role.

DONs oversee and coordinate the duties of a long-term care facility’s nursing staff. However, the position combines nursing and administrative skills and a dual degree in nursing and healthcare or business administration may be necessary. While an ADN prepares you to enter the nursing field, earning a BSN makes you more employable as a DON and some facilities even prefer DONs with a master’s degree in nursing or nursing or healthcare administration.

If you don’t have any desire to become a DON, you can still increase your salary by pursuing a professional certification. There aren’t any professional certifications specifically for LTC nursing, but it may be financially beneficial to earn Gerontological Nursing Certification through the American Nurses Credentialing Center. To sit for the exam, you must have practiced an equivalent of two years full-time as an RN with at least 2,000 hours of clinical practice and 30 hours of continuing education in gerontological nursing within the last three years.

Take a look at Vivian's Long Term Care Nurse Career Guide for more information, including required education, responsibilities, pros and cons and more.