Registered Nurse Jobs in Milwaukee, WI
Registered nurses in Milwaukee can choose among five big hospital employers, and posted RN pay at Aurora St. Luke's runs $38.20 to $57.30 an hour. Froedtert, Ascension, Children's Wisconsin and the VA are hiring too. Here are the current openings, followed by who is hiring and how to get licensed in Wisconsin.
Current registered nurse Openings in Milwaukee, WI
Listings marked External are sponsored openings provided by the Jobs2Careers network.
Registered Nurse Work in Milwaukee
RN hiring in Milwaukee runs along a handful of hospital campuses rather than one medical district. The biggest cluster is the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center by the Zoo Interchange, where Froedtert Hospital and Children's Wisconsin staff adult and pediatric units, including Children's emergency department trauma center. On the south side, Aurora St. Luke's on Oklahoma Avenue and Ascension St. Francis on South 16th Street post procedural, med-surg and night-shift openings, while the Milwaukee VA on National Avenue hires acute care nurses on the federal scale.
Ascension's consolidation since late 2024 has moved work around the city: cardiac cath labs went to Columbia St. Mary's on the East Side, labor and delivery is shifting to St. Joseph and Columbia St. Mary's, and inpatient behavioral health is centralizing at St. Francis. For nurses, that means specialty openings follow the service line, so check which campus a unit now calls home before you apply.
Top Milwaukee Employers Hiring Registered Nurses
Each of these employers posts RN openings for its Milwaukee hospitals on its own careers site:
- Froedtert Hospital - the Froedtert and Medical College of Wisconsin flagship on the Regional Medical Center campus, posting staff RN openings and recruiting nurses at every experience level.
- Aurora St. Luke's Medical Center - Advocate Health's south side hospital, posting procedural, case manager and new-grad RN roles with pay ranges listed.
- Ascension Wisconsin - runs St. Francis, St. Joseph and Columbia St. Mary's, and hires med-surg RNs including PRN nights at St. Francis.
- Children's Wisconsin - the pediatric hospital on Connell Avenue, recruiting emergency department trauma RNs and ambulatory float nurses.
- Milwaukee VA Medical Center - the Clement J. Zablocki VA, which posts acute care inpatient RN openings on USAJOBS.
Registered Nurse Salaries in Milwaukee
- Entry level: about $38 to $42 an hour, the bottom of current posted RN ranges at Aurora St. Luke's and the VA.
- Experienced: roughly $42 to $55 an hour for staff nurses with a few years on a unit.
- Senior: about $55 to $67 an hour at the top of posted ranges; the VA's acute care RN range reaches $139,849 a year.
These are estimates built from pay ranges Milwaukee employers posted in 2026, not a survey of every hospital. Unit, shift and specialty move pay: night and weekend differentials, PRN status, years of experience and specialty certification all affect where you land in a range.
How to Become a Registered Nurse in Milwaukee
You need a degree from a board-approved nursing program and a passing score on the NCLEX-RN. Milwaukee Area Technical College offers a two-year Registered Nursing associate degree at its Downtown Milwaukee and Mequon campuses, with CNA training required before acceptance. The UW-Milwaukee School of Nursing and the Marquette University College of Nursing offer the bachelor's route, and Marquette also runs a Direct Entry MSN for people who already hold a bachelor's in another field. Your license comes from the Wisconsin Board of Nursing, with applications handled by the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services.
What the Job Involves
Registered nurses assess patients, give medications and treatments, start IVs, monitor vital signs and lab results, and document care in the electronic health record. They coordinate with physicians, therapists and case managers, teach patients and families about their care, and supervise nursing assistants and LPNs on their unit. Hospital RNs typically work 8 or 12 hour shifts, with nights, weekends and holidays in the rotation.
Skills Employers Look For
- An active Wisconsin RN license or a multistate compact license
- Basic Life Support, plus ACLS or PALS for acute and pediatric units
- Patient assessment and clinical judgement
- Electronic health record documentation
- Medication administration and IV skills
- Calm communication with patients, families and care teams
Career Path and Advancement
Many Milwaukee RNs start with an associate degree from MATC, then finish a bachelor's through UWM's RN to BS program while they work. From a med-surg or new-grad role, the ladder runs to specialty units such as procedural labs, emergency and trauma, pediatrics or spinal cord injury care at the VA, then to charge nurse, case manager and nurse manager roles. Graduate nursing study opens advanced practice and nurse educator positions.
Related Careers in Milwaukee
For a wider view of Milwaukee's medical job market, see this guide:
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you get an RN license in Wisconsin?
Graduate from a board-approved nursing program, apply to the Wisconsin Board of Nursing through the Department of Safety and Professional Services, and pass the NCLEX-RN. While you wait for the exam, you can apply for a temporary permit that lasts three months or until a failing result.
How much do registered nurses make in Milwaukee?
Posted RN ranges in Milwaukee commonly start around $38 an hour and run to $57 an hour or more at Aurora St. Luke's. The Milwaukee VA's acute care RN range runs from $80,229 to $139,849 a year.
How long does it take to become an RN in Milwaukee?
MATC's Registered Nursing associate degree takes about two years of coursework, after prerequisites and a waiting list the college estimates at about six months. A bachelor's degree at Marquette is an eight-term program designed to finish in four years.
Can I work in Milwaukee with a nursing license from another state?
Wisconsin belongs to the Nurse Licensure Compact, so a multistate license issued by another compact state lets you practice here. If you move to Wisconsin and make it your primary state of residence, you apply for a Wisconsin license through the Department of Safety and Professional Services.
Are there new graduate RN jobs in Milwaukee?
Yes. Advocate Health posts new-grad RN positions for its Milwaukee area hospitals, and Froedtert recruits nurses at every experience level. Check each system's careers site in your final semester, since new-grad openings are posted ahead of start dates.
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