Skip to content
STRATUSWORKFORCE SCAN
Menu

Registered Nurses

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.

3,379,720 people do this job in the US. $97,550 a year.

now
21%

of the working time. Estimate.

Kinds of work
  • 36%
  • 15%
  • 49%
6%

Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.

Half the desk work within reach
Already

On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.

Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030

0%25%50%75%100%2027202820292030NowDesk work: 36% of the time
Chosen to Ceiling: the share
DateNow
NowEnd of 2030

What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .

At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.

How far this has come

With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 18%. Today's estimate: 21%.

0%10%20%30%2023202420252026GPT-4, March 2023: 0% within reachGPT-4 Turbo (Nov 2023), November 2023: 0% within reachGPT-4o, May 2024: 0% within reachClaude 3.5 Sonnet (June 2024), June 2024: 0% within reacho1-preview, September 2024: 0% within reachClaude 3.5 Sonnet (Oct 2024), October 2024: 0% within reacho1, December 2024: 0% within reachClaude 3.7 Sonnet, February 2025: 0% within reacho3, April 2025: 4% within reachGPT-5, August 2025: 6% within reachGemini 3 Pro, November 2025: 9% within reachClaude Opus 4.5, November 2025: 9% within reachGPT-5.2, December 2025: 11% within reachClaude Opus 4.6, February 2026: 11% within reachClaude Mythos Preview (early), April 2026: 18% within reachToday (estimate), September 2026: 21% within reach
Each step is a new best model measured by METR, four in five; the dashed end is today's estimate. Point at a dot for the model.

A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.

The tasks

Sorted by . 27 tasks from .

TaskKind
Perform administrative or managerial functions, such as taking responsibility for a unit's staff, budget, planning, or long-range goals.Done daily by most who do it.13%3.3 h50 min to 6.7 h32%Half by Jan 2027
Assess the needs of individuals, families, or communities, including assessment of individuals' home or work environments, to identify potential health or safety problems.Done daily by most who do it. 9%1.3 h25 min to 2.5 hStays with people
Direct or supervise less-skilled nursing or healthcare personnel or supervise a particular unit.Done daily by most who do it. 7%50 min25 min to 3.3 hStays with people
Work with individuals, groups, or families to plan or implement programs designed to improve the overall health of communities.Done daily by most who do it. 7%2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h46%Half by Oct 2026
Maintain accurate, detailed reports and records.Done daily by most who do it. 6%25 min13 min to 50 min100%Half by now
Monitor all aspects of patient care, including diet and physical activity.Done daily by most who do it. 5%25 min13 min to 50 minStays with people
Direct or coordinate infection control programs, advising or consulting with specified personnel about necessary precautions.Done daily by most who do it.5%1.7 h25 min to 5 hStays with people
Administer medications to patients and monitor patients for reactions or side effects.Done several times a day by most who do it. 5%21 min8 min to 38 minStays with people
Provide health care, first aid, immunizations, or assistance in convalescence or rehabilitation in locations such as schools, hospitals, or industry.Done daily by most who do it. 4%38 min13 min to 1.7 hStays with people
Observe nurses and visit patients to ensure proper nursing care.Done daily by most who do it. 4%38 min17 min to 1.7 hStays with people
Instruct individuals, families, or other groups on topics such as health education, disease prevention, or childbirth and develop health improvement programs.Done daily by most who do it. 4%38 min17 min to 2.5 hStays with people
Consult and coordinate with healthcare team members to assess, plan, implement, or evaluate patient care plans.Done more than weekly by most who do it. 4%25 min13 min to 58 minStays with people

Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.

Jobs that share skills with this one

From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.

Where this job works

The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).

Where the most of these jobs are

The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).