NP Salary vs. RN salary

Specialties NP

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I have a friend who just started working as a NP about a year ago and she said she is really disappointed she didn't go to CRNA school because she is making the same money she made as a RN in the hospital. When she did agency work she made even more, she says another nurse said she should should have looked into travel Nursing, they average around $100,000.00 some years depending on the assignments they choose. I am considering CRNA school cause I want to make a great income too but if you can be a BSN with over time, travel nurse on occasion and do some agency work why bother going into debt? and suffering 30 months in a CRNA or NP program. Could anyone clarify this for me? This just doesn't make sense to me? I can see if you want to open your own clinic as a NP, that was my dream until I found out in Missouri you cannot open a clinic. I'm still investigating if this is true. That's the reason I chose to go the CRNA route. Anyway can someone explain the salary differences to me, I read NP magazine by advance and they are giving salary ranges that are for NPs who have been in the field for a while. I believe I'm confused. Any clear answers will be greatly appreciated I'm also sharing this info with nurses at work who are in limbo about what advanced degree to pursue.

Thanks!

so i finally went back to work as an rn like some other nps on my floor. now as an rn, i don't have the same responsibilties, very flexible work schedule, less headaches and more money. i made 122k last year. i did some ots maybe 1-2 a month. my love for travelling is increased since i am able to travel more working 3-4 days/wk. i take care of 4-5 pts on a regular floor, 1-2 in critical care. since i am a senior nurse, i precept 1-2 new student a year( $750 extra per preceptorship), act as a charge nurse( $2hr/hr extra), do some ots ($72/hr). i get almost all the holidays off including thanksgiving,xmas but i choose to work on xmas bec i am not christian. i know plenty of senior rns 15+ yrs + who make 100k without doing any ots.

tulips,

i will have to leave nyc to go to nursing school (the schools here are too expensive for absn programs), but i would love to move back to nyc to work. is it typical to earn $100k as a new nurse? what can i expect as a new nurse in pay? unfortunately, my salary versus cost of living may deter me from moving back, but it sounds like you work for a wonderful hospital. i would love to go to nyu or columbia for free, especially considering that i can't afford either one on my own. i had been planning on becoming a pediatriac np, but maybe that's not the route i should take, but i think only time will tell.

any advice or info is much appreciated. thank you!

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I think it all depends on how you work yourself. I have been a nurse for almost 3 yrs (will be 3yrs in May). I quit my 1st RN job after working in a level 1 trauma ED for 18mo where my orifice got kicked on the nightly basis, I would go home, take a shower, and literally collapse in my bed for 8-10 hrs 3-5 days/week. I was miserable at that damn job with a 5-8 : 1 pt to nurse ratio, constantly afraid that one of my 5-8 pt's would fall/code/die when I was busy with another one, constantly cussing out/chasing down crazy/ungrateful patients and worked with nurses who had been in the same unit for 6-20 yrs and complained worse than I did, and made an avg of ONLY $7/hr more than I did...but they did nothing to change their situation! So, I decided to quit and work for a staffing agency (and did some Home health on the side)... Got paid $48/hr and worked when I wanted! Enjoyed a year of traveling and galavanting all over the world. Did a medical mission trip to Kenya...and it changed my whole outlook on what I wanna do in my career!

So I came back and applied to and got in an FNP program...Hope to work for the UN/WHO/Red Cross or some humanitarian entity that will send me overseas to run clinics and serve small communities! If they pay me more or equal to what I was getting as a nurse, its fine with me! I will have more freedom, my services will go further to benefit more people, and the education/experience I am getting/will get on the job is priceless!

So, moral of the story is, dont look at people on your unit who have been there for ever and are miserable in their situation. Ask those who have been all over the place and are not afraid to quit and look at other options and play two companies/agencies against each other to get paid more...cuz that is the game you have to play to get what you want, no matter if you are an NP/RN. I hope to get about a year experience in an outpatient clinic/urgent care clinic/ with an inpatient GP before I venture off with the UN...

Good luck on your decision! I am almost done with my 1st year in NP school, and I know that I will be blessed with a job that I love and will pay me VERY well, as long as I am doing God's work and helping those who are unable to help themselves!

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So, moral of the story is, dont look at people on your unit who have been there for ever and are miserable in their situation. Ask those who have been all over the place and are not afraid to quit and look at other options and play two companies/agencies against each other to get paid more...cuz that is the game you have to play to get what you want, no matter if you are an NP/RN. I hope to get about a year experience in an outpatient clinic/urgent care clinic/ with an inpatient GP before I venture off with the UN...

Wow! Thank you for sharing! What an amazing story and how inspirational. You just made my day, and after a week of rethinking nursing, you've convinced me that I've made the right decision in leaving my job to go back to school for a career change!

Thank you again and good luck to you! Please come back and tell us all of your success stories.

P.S. Could you please tell me about agency work? I'm not quite sure what that is. Do they provide benefits?

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Specializes in SICU,CVICU,ER,PACU.
I am applying to ACNP programs, but does that mean that I will never be able to work outside the inpt setting? I am thinking someday I might want the outpt setting just not now? What are the thought on this? Is it possible to work outpt with the ACNP concentration?

Thanks!

As an ACNP, your scope of practice is Acute or Chronic complex conditions.

What it means is that you are primarily trained to take care of patients with complex health issues, and most practice in the ED and ICUs.

The outpatient, clinic type of work is possible for the ACNP, however, it would have to be in a specialty clinic, i.e: cardiology, surgery/trauma follow-up etc...

The ACNP's education only lightly touches to primary care topics and concerns. If you are set on only doing outpatient work, then ANP or FNP would probably be more adequate.

The other question you should ask yourself is, what is the type of patient you would like to take care of- what I mean by that, is that if you are very interested in kids, pregnant women etc...then you should consider FNP who cover the whole life spectrum and could take care of kids, as well as adults, and follow pregnancies etc....

Not to fret though, because once you are an NP, you can always come back to do an addition specialty- for example, if you were a ANP and realized that you truly enjoy more complex health issues, you can do a cert to have your ACNP on top of your ANP (and they are often available online, but do have clinical requirements).

I hope my post made sense and might help you a little.....

Good luck,

H~

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don't take this the wrong way but you said "i'm an immigrant who came to this country with pennies and didn't even speak english." those are the things that get you a free pass in america. i'm sure you didn't have to pay anything for your education. i'm a middle age white male, one of the worst things you can be for grant, loans, bonus, or opportunities. you also said you live in ny and that is why you making so much. you have to spend $24 or more just to drive car across bridges and drive through tunnels. it's all relative. you probably have no kids and live in a 2 bedroom apartment.

Being a middle aged white male may be the worst things you can be for grants but statistically it's proven to be the best thing to be in many other important areas in life. From job opportunities to getting better deals on loans and avoiding many other issues.

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So you never worked as an RN before you became an NP? Not good at all!!

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If your working psych the likelihood of you getting a raise is near zero to none in the private sector. Most are stuck on the west (US) around 30-35$/hr which comes out to be 70k/yr for inpatient and yes its really easy if your able to put up c/ a lot. OT available or moonlighting is easy since most psych facilities never have enough staff. Yet, dealing c/ personalities on both side of the nursing station takes a toll on you. I'd rather never be a charge nurse again and sit in the medication room giving out hydroxyzine for 30 more years.

Going NP can be anywhere from 90k/yr to 160k/yr (yes) and all you have to see is 15-45 minutes depending on each case, hate the idea of 9-5 m/f since I've never worked it, but I have a family now and to be honest I'm not getting younger. My days of being a bouncer are over and coming to a close. NP provides me longevity in a field of nursing I never planned on being in. Pick your battles, ect ect ect, or even better to quote Young Guns "We work for a provider as regulators. We regulate any prescriptions off this property - we're damn good too! Our provider has got a soft spot for runaways, dareless, vagrant types. But you can't be any geek off the street, gotta be handy with the prescription pad , if you know what I mean, earn your keep."

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for the amount of responsibility & knowledge base no full time np should make less than 135k. No full time Rn

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Specializes in Psych, Geriatrics.

It depends on your specialty, and your state. In my state, we have very restricted NP practice. I have had offers ranging from $30 hour W2 no benefits!! to $65 after 5 years experience and that is 1099/contract labor.

And everything in between. To put it in perspective, RN with the VA top 100k plus in our state and I used to make $42 hour on evening weekends (w2 no benefits) at a large urban hospital - that was 7 years ago.

This is in mental health - dermatology, cardiology, endocrinology, ENT, bigger money by far.

Now states with autonomy...one of our gals just left to earn 150k a year for part-time work no insurance but w other benefits, status W2. I have seen many similar offers say, on "indeed" and other sites. I'm not talking about the bay, NYC, etc where you will spend all of your money on housing and taxes, but other states, even rural areas.

See where you think you want to live, or how flexible you can be, and then see what the average salary and level of autonomy is. Higher that is, higher your pay will be, generally. See what your family goals are - I got tired of being gone every weekend and holiday once the kids were in school. It was lonely and discouraging, one reason I chose to go back to grad school and do outpatient work.

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Good to hear a story like this, so down to the earth

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Nurses are supposed to work to make a difference in patients' and families' lives. We treat the whole patient and collaborate with other clinicians and hospital staff. RNs like myself who study to become NPs don't do it for the money. If anyone chooses a career based on income, hours, and any other shallow reason, they will burn out. A nurse practitioner is a nurse with advanced learning. Studies show that anyone who never worked as an RN will not do well as an NP. Most jobs require five years of acute care experience in order to even be considered an NP interview. Yes CRNAs make a lot of money but it is hard and the responsibility is immense. Do what you love doing and not what you're paid.

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Nurses are supposed to work to make a difference in patients' and families' lives. We treat the whole patient and collaborate with other clinicians and hospital staff. RNs like myself who study to become NPs don't do it for the money. If anyone chooses a career based on income, hours, and any other shallow reason, they will burn out. A nurse practitioner is a nurse with advanced learning. Studies show that anyone who never worked as an RN will not do well as an NP. Most jobs require five years of acute care experience in order to even be considered an NP interview. Yes CRNAs make a lot of money but it is hard and the responsibility is immense. Do what you love doing and not what you're paid.

I wish everyone would stop saying that they don't work for the money because it just sounds silly. If a person can't make a house payment, buy food, or pay for a car, etc. without working then whatever work they do is for the money. The only difference among us (not including those people for whom no amount is ever enough) is that some of us need more money to pay for those things than others. In an ideal world I would read books, sew, watch TV, or eat ice cream for a living because those are some of the things that I love to do but that isn't realistic. Even with all of the different areas of nursing one can't just pick what they want to do and go it because many of the more desirable positions are very competitive and hiring managers may not choose you for that position, and that's assuming you even have the education and experience required for said position. So not all of us have the luxury of doing what we love without consideration for money.

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