Within one visit to the hospital, a patient is bound to encounter a number of employees. Effective patient care depends on every working mind, body, and heart, from the receptionist to the phlebotomist, the technician to the general practitioner.

Currently, hospitals comprise one of the largest employers in the US. According to a report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, total employment nationwide is expected to grow by 11.5 million jobs through 2026. Employment in the healthcare and social assistance sector will account for one-third of all new jobs, with demands for healthcare support occupations and healthcare technicians growing the fastest.

Here are salaries and job outlooks of some of the occupations that keep our hospitals running, according to O*Net Online.‍

Registered Nurses

Median Salary: $71,730 annual

Projected job openings (2016-2026): Much faster than average, 203,700

Tasks:

• Maintain accurate, detailed reports and records.
• Administer medications to patients and monitor patients for reactions or side effects.
• Record patients’ medical information and vital signs.
• Monitor, record, and report symptoms or changes in patient’s conditions.
• Consult and coordinate with healthcare team members to assess, plan, implement, or evaluate patient care plans.‍

Nurse Practitioners

Median Salary: $107,030 annual

Projected job openings (2016-2026): Much faster than average, 11,000

Tasks:

• Analyze and interpret patients’ histories, symptoms, physical findings, or diagnostic information to develop appropriate diagnoses.
• Diagnose or treat acute healthcare problems like illnesses, infections, or injuries.
• Recommend diagnostic or therapeutic interventions with attention to safety, cost, invasiveness, simplicity, acceptability, adherence, and efficacy.
• Prescribe medications based on efficacy, safety, and cost as legally authorized.
• Educate patients about self-management of acute or chronic illnesses, tailoring instructions to patients’ circumstances.‍

Orderlies

Median Salary: $28,060 annual

Projected job openings (2016-2026): Average, 6,700

Tasks:

• Lift or assist others in lifting patients on or off beds, examination tables, surgical tables, or stretchers.
• Transport patients to treatment units, testing units, operating rooms, or other areas, using wheelchairs, stretchers, or moveable beds.
• Disinfect or sterilize equipment or supplies using germicides or sterilizing equipment.‍

Nursing Assistants

Median Salary: $28,540

Projected job openings (2016-2026): Faster than average, 195,100

Tasks:

• Answer patient call signals, lights, bells, or intercom systems to determine patient needs.
• Turn or reposition bedridden patients.
• Provide physical support to assist patients in performing daily living activities, such as getting out of bed, bathing, dressing, using the toilet, standing, walking, or exercising.‍

Cafeteria Cooks

Median Salary: $26,860

Projected job openings (2016-2026): Average, 64,400

Tasks:

• Clean, cut, and cook meat, fish, or poultry.
• Cook foodstuffs according to menus, special dietary or nutritional restrictions, or the number of portions served.
• Clean and inspect galley equipment, kitchen appliances, and work areas to ensure cleanliness and functional operation.‍

Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics

Median Salary: $34,320 annual

Projected job openings (2016-2026): Much faster than average, 19,400

Tasks:

• Administer first aid treatment or life support care to sick or injured persons in prehospital settings.
• Operate equipment in advanced life support environments, such as electrocardiograms (EKGs), external defibrillators, or bag valve mask resuscitators.
• Perform emergency diagnostic and treatment procedures, such as stomach suction, airway management, or heart monitoring, during the ambulance ride.‍

Phlebotomists

Median Salary: $34,480 annual

Projected job openings (2016-2026): Much faster than average, 16,900

Tasks:

• Match laboratory requisition forms to specimen tubes
• Dispose of contaminated sharps, in accordance with applicable laws, standards, and policies
• Draw blood from veins by vacuum tube, syringe, or butterfly venipuncture methods‍

Medical Transcriptionists

Median Salary: $34,770 annual

Projected job openings (2016-2026): Decline, 6,400

Tasks:

• Take dictation using shorthand, a stenotype machine, headsets, and transcribing machines.
• Return dictated reports in printed or electronic form for the physician’s review, signature, corrections, and inclusion in patients’ medical records.
• Review and edit transcribed reports or dictated material for spelling, grammar, clarity, consistency, and proper medical terminology.‍

Surgical Technologists

Median Salary: $47,300 annual

Projected job openings (2016-2026): Faster than average, 10,000

Tasks:

• Maintain a proper sterile field during surgical procedures.
• Count sponges, needles, and instruments before and after an operation.
• Scrub arms and hands and assist the surgical team.‍

Dietitians and Nutritionists

Median Salary: $60,370 annual

Projected job openings (2016-2026): Much faster than average, 5,400

Tasks:

• Monitor food service operations to ensure conformance to nutritional, safety, sanitation, and quality standards.
• Assess nutritional needs, diet restrictions, and current health plans to develop and implement dietary-care plans and provide nutritional counseling.
• Advise patients and their families on nutritional principles, dietary plans, diet modifications, and food selection and preparation.‍

Administrative Services Managers

Median Salary: $96,180 annual

Projected job openings (2016-2026): Faster than average, 26,200

Tasks:

• Monitor the facility to ensure it remains safe, secure, and well-maintained.
• Prepare and review operational reports and schedules to ensure accuracy and efficiency.
• Set goals and deadlines for the department.
• Acquire, distribute, and store supplies.‍

Medical and Health-Service Managers

Median Salary: $99,730 annual

Projected job openings (2016-2026): Much faster than average, 36,700

Tasks:

• Develop and maintain computerized record management systems to store and process data, such as personnel activities and information, and to produce reports.
• Direct, supervise and evaluate work activities of medical, nursing, technical, clerical, service, maintenance, and other personnel.
• Direct or conduct recruitment, hiring, and training of personnel
• Develop and implement organizational policies and procedures for the facility or medical unit.
• Conduct and administer fiscal operations, including accounting, planning budgets, authorizing expenditures, establishing service rates, and coordinating financial reporting.‍

Physician Assistants

Median Salary: $108,610 annual

Projected job openings (2016-2026): Much faster than average, 10,600

Tasks:

• Examine patients to obtain information about their physical condition.
• Make tentative diagnoses and decisions about the management and treatment of patients.
• Prescribe therapy or medication with physician approval.
• Administer or order diagnostic tests, such as x-ray, electrocardiograms, and laboratory tests.
• Interpret diagnostic test results for deviations from normal.‍

Nurse Anesthetists

Median Salary: $167,950 annual

Projected job openings (2016-2026): Much faster than average, 2,800

Tasks:

• Manage patients’ airway or pulmonary status using techniques such as endotracheal intubation, mechanical ventilation, pharmacological support, respiratory therapy, and extubating.
• Select, prepare, or use equipment, monitors, supplies, or drugs for the administration of anesthetics
• Select, order, or administer anesthetics, adjuvant drugs, accessory drugs, fluids, or blood products as necessary
• Using invasive and noninvasive techniques, monitor patients’ responses, including skin color, pupil dilation, pulse, heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, ventilation, or urine output.‍

Anesthesiologists

Median Salary: $208,000+ annual

Projected job openings (2016-2026): Much faster than average, 1,400

Tasks:

• Monitor patients before, during, and after anesthesia and counteract adverse reactions or complications.
• Record the type and amount of anesthesia and the patient’s condition throughout the procedure.
• Provide and maintain life support and airway management and help prepare patients for emergency surgery.
• Administer anesthetic or sedation during medical procedures using local, intravenous, spinal, or caudal methods.‍

Surgeons

Median Salary: $208,000+ annual

Projected job openings (2016-2026): Faster than average, 1,900

Tasks:

• Follow established surgical techniques during the operation.
• Examine the patient to obtain information on a medical condition and surgical risk.
• Operate on patients to correct deformities, repair injuries, prevent and treat diseases, or improve or restore patients’ functions.