Nurses who make the least money are typically in entry-level roles like Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) or Licensed Practical/Vocational Nurses (LPNs/LVNs), as they require less education and have a narrower scope of practice, with CNAs earning the least due to their support role and LPNs/LVNs earning slightly more but still less than Registered Nurses (RNs). Specialty-wise, roles like School Nurses, Home Health Nurses, and Nurse Educators can also be lower-paying compared to advanced practice or critical care roles, but this varies by location and experience.
The lowest-paid nurses are typically entry-level Enrolled Nurses (ENs) or Nursing Assistants/Assistants in Nursing (AINs), especially those in training or early career stages, with wages varying by country and state but generally starting significantly lower than Registered Nurses (RNs), sometimes below $30/hour or equivalent in local currency, as they perform more basic, supervised patient care.
The average registered nurse salary in Australia is around $79,550 per year (about $41,00 per hour. Entry-level positions start at $76,063 per year up to $97,568 per year. On top of your salary, you will also receive a minimum of 4 weeks paid annual leave and superannuation (10,5% from 1 July 2022).
Education and Specialization: Keys to Easier Nursing Jobs
Specialization in areas like public health or case management often results in less stressful nursing roles that focus on population health or individualized long-term patient care.
Top 10 Happiest Nursing Jobs
Audiologist. An audiologist is a qualified healthcare professional who works with people with hearing impairments. It's reportedly one of the least stressful jobs in Australia, noted for good growth potential, low risk, clear job expectations, no deadlines and no physical labour.
List of Lower-Stress Nursing Jobs
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Key findings from the 2025 survey: 65% of nurses report high levels of stress and burnout.
More than half of the nursing profession feel they are underpaid and overworked, resulting in the likelihood of patient's needs not being met, significantly increasing.
LPNs and RNs play distinct roles in healthcare, with LPNs focusing on task-oriented duties under supervision, while RNs take on broader responsibilities, including critical thinking and strategic healthcare management.
Acute Care Nurse
Trauma nursing is one of the most demanding and stressful roles a nurse can assume. RNs and APRNs on trauma units work under overwhelming pressure with patients in critical conditions.
Research with patients and patient outcomes has shown that nurses with a BSN have better patient outcomes on average. So, in a competitive healthcare market that must maximize patient outcomes, BSN has become the preferred degree for most hiring efforts.
Here are the most popular nursing specialties that are expected to grow rapidly in coming years:
10 Careers Similar to Nursing
Many nurses have experienced verbal abuse from patients and dont feel safe anymore at work. All of these factors can lead to nurse burnout and unhappy nurses.
Office Nurse
One of the happiest nursing jobs is a position as an office nurse. Nurses who work in a physician or other outpatient office provide direct care to patients for chronic or non-urgent conditions.
Emergency department nurses tend to experience the highest rates of burnout. A study published in the Psychology, Health, and Medicine Journal noted that ED nurses feel that they have the least control in their job among nurses in different specialties, which may also influence their high burnout rates.
You should not feel like you cannot work as a nurse if you experience anxiety. Many nurses with anxiety deal with their situations in positive ways that actually make them better nurses. And given the variety of potential work environments, a job change may work wonders.
For high school graduates, an LPN or ADN program may be the simplest entry point. Current registered nurses often find the RN-to-BSN bridge most accessible, while adults with a non-nursing bachelor's degree may choose an accelerated BSN for the fastest turnaround.
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The roles with high job satisfaction
The "easiest" high-paying jobs often involve leveraging existing skills (like sales or IT) or finding niches like insurance broking, high-level tech roles (remote/deliverable-focused), sales, truck driving, personal training, or specialized roles like medical coding or elevator mechanics, balancing ease with good income depends on your definition of easy (low stress, low formal education, or flexible) and industry demand. Roles like sales representative, IT support, or even transcription can offer good returns, especially when remote or freelance, but building up clients or expertise is key to high earnings.