Jobs and career pathways
NCLEX – Maternal/Neonatal jobs, salary benchmarks, and career pathways
Maternal-newborn nursing is a practice setting rather than a separate credential, so these benchmarks cover the RN role and the nurse-midwifery tier above it.
Updated October 8, 2026
Where this exam tends to lead
These roles centre on related jobs and career pathways. The role targets below are the main search patterns this jobs page is built around.
This page is built around related job searches now, with room for richer direct-ingestion job feeds later.
Nursing salary benchmarks
Maternal-newborn nursing is a practice setting rather than a separate credential, so these benchmarks cover the RN role and the nurse-midwifery tier above it.
| Role / benchmark | Pay | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Registered nurses | $97,550 median annual wage | May 2025 figure covering all RN settings including labour and delivery, with 6% projected growth to 2035 BLS Registered Nurses |
| Nurse anesthetists, nurse midwives, and nurse practitioners | $134,920 median annual wage | May 2025 figure; the tier certified nurse-midwives sit in, projected to grow 36% from 2025 to 2035 BLS Nurse Anesthetists, Nurse Midwives, and Nurse Practitioners |
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Official NCLEX-RN facts
| Fact | Current detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Maternity as a category | Not a Client Needs category. Content is distributed by client need, not by patient population | 2026 NCLEX-RN Test Plan |
| Health Promotion and Maintenance | 6–12% of scored items — carries antepartum, postpartum, and newborn care content | 2026 NCLEX-RN Test Plan |
| Physiological Adaptation | 11–17% of scored items — where obstetric and neonatal complications concentrate | 2026 NCLEX-RN Test Plan |
| Exam length and time | 85 to 150 items, five-hour limit including the introductory screen and all breaks | NCLEX Examination Candidate Bulletin, April 2026 |
| RN passing standard | 0.00 logits through March 31, 2029 | NCLEX passing standard |
| Registration fee | $200 USD for U.S. licensure, plus $150 USD for international test centre scheduling | NCLEX fees and payment |
| Fee increase coming | NCSBN states that effective February 1, 2027 the NCLEX registration fee will be $350 in the United States — a 75% rise from $200. Registration fees are non-refundable for any reason | NCLEX fees and payment |
| Published target distribution | The test plan also prints target percentages, the midpoints of each range: Management of Care 18%, Pharmacological and Parenteral Therapies 16%, Physiological Adaptation 14%, Safety and Infection Prevention and Control 13%, Reduction of Risk Potential 12%, and 9% each for Health Promotion and Maintenance, Psychosocial Integrity, and Basic Care and Comfort. Maternal and newborn items draw mainly on the 9% Health Promotion share and the 14% Physiological Adaptation share | 2026 NCLEX-RN Test Plan |
| What the 85-item minimum is made of | 52 items from the eight content areas in the stated percentages, 18 clinical judgment case-study items (three case studies of six items each), and 15 unscored pretest items | 2026 NCLEX-RN Test Plan |
| How clinical judgment is measured | Each case study runs the six steps of the NCSBN Clinical Judgment Measurement Model — recognize cues, analyze cues, prioritize hypotheses, generate solutions, take action, evaluate outcomes. Case studies span content areas and are counted independently of content-area items | 2026 NCLEX-RN Test Plan |
Fetched job listings
These listings come from the latest automated jobs update run. If a board blocks or limits retrieval, use the live search links above.
6 listings captured
The Muse
Store Associate
CVS Health
Litchfield, CT
The Muse
(USA) Tire and Battery Service Advisor
Walmart
Eau Claire, WI
The Muse
Café Associate
Walmart
Clive, IA
The Muse
Maintenance Custodian Associate
Walmart
Ellicott City, MD
The Muse
Retail Customer Service Associate
Walmart
El Paso, TX
The Muse
PRODUCE/CLERK
Kroger
Bowling Green, OH
Official resources
Client Needs percentages and the activity statements behind each category.
Format, timing, and the rules that determine when the exam stops.
Where NCSBN publishes current and superseded test plans for RN and PN.
External resources and benchmarks
Wage and employment outlook for the RN role.
Questions people ask before choosing this path
Is there a separate maternal-newborn section on the NCLEX-RN?
No. The 2026 RN Test Plan organizes items by Client Needs, and maternal-newborn content is distributed across those categories rather than isolated into a section.
When did the current test plan take effect?
The 2026 NCLEX-RN Test Plan is based on the 2024 RN Practice Analysis and governs exams through March 31, 2029.
What does the NCLEX-RN cost?
Registration is $200 USD for U.S. licensure. International test centre scheduling adds $150 USD, and changing your nursing regulatory body or exam type after registering costs $50 each.