9. Cath Lab RN — $100K – $135K
Cardiac catheterization lab RNs assist interventional cardiologists during angiograms, stent placements, and structural heart procedures. It is a technical, high-acuity role, and demand keeps climbing as the US population ages and structural heart programs expand at community hospitals.
Most Cath Lab positions require one to two years of critical care or telemetry experience, plus ACLS. Many hospitals additionally require or strongly prefer the CCRN or the Cardiac Vascular Nursing Certification (RN-BC) from the ANCC once hired.
BLS OES groups Cath Lab RNs under general RN codes, but hospital compensation reports from AACN and specialty job boards show $100K to $135K in most major metros, with on-call pay stacking on top. Call requirements are heavy at smaller centers, which is where the top of the range lives.
