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Median pay: $74,000 Top pay: $102,000 10-year job growth: 26.0% Total jobs*: 2,737,400
What they do all day?
An ICU nurse cares for very ill, injured, or convalescent patients during their hospital stay and develops long-term care plans as needed. Since they are often dealing with patients in critical condition, the job is stressful but many ICU nurses find the work to be quite fulfilling.
--J.A.
Quality of life ratings:
Personal satisfaction
Low stress
Benefit to society
Flexibility
B
D
A
C
Published: October 29, 2012
Notes: All pay data from PayScale.com. Median pay is for an experienced worker (at least five or seven years in the field). Top pay represents the 90th percentile. Job growth is estimated for 2010-20, and based on people working in broader 'job family' from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
*Total jobs is estimated number of people working in broader BLS 'job family.'
Sources:PayScale.com, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and CNNMoney research
Do Nurse, Intensive Care Units have great jobs, or what?
It's still a tough job market out there, so when CNNMoney and PayScale.com set out to find America's Best Jobs this year, first and foremost we looked for professions that offer great growth opportunities.
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