should I take an FNP job in Florida?

I am a new grad FNP and wanted to move to Florida to enjoy the sunshine.
I was disappointed to learn that Florida is one of only 2 states in the US (the other is GA)
where NP's cannot write prescriptions for controlled substances. wow.

I heard that in some practices, the physician will leave a signed pad for the NP (isn't that illegal?), or the NP must
lay out the prescriptions for the Dr. to sign "when he has a chance"(isn't that illegal too?). Isn't the provider supposed to see the patient? I imagine that the Pt is standing around
and wondering why they didnt just see the Dr. while they're left waiting.
That really doesn't sound too good of a situation to me, but I would like to hear from those of you that know the real deal. It sounds very subserviant, but I hope I am overreacting.

So....Should I forget about FL until the laws get changed?
How can FNP's have autonomy with this law? Are they working like PA's only?
Any chance of this awful law changing soon?

thanks for your input!

Ok, I see that now, sorry.
I meant that in other states, NP's can practice on their own, even open up their own practices, whereas PA's must be directly under the supervision of a Physician.
Obviously an NP cannot practice on their own in FL if they can't prescribe controlled substances.
Like I said, I am not an expert on the scope of practice for PA's but that's what I thought was the main difference.

You need to understand how supervision works. In Florida as in most states the physician merely has to be available by phone (the same for PAs and NPs). Direct supervision has a very specific meaning. There is no state that requires continuous direct supervision for PAs. You also use autonomous and independent interchangeably when they are not. There are 12 or 13 states (depending on how you count them) that allow NPs to practice without any physician involvement as long as they don't bill Medicare or Medicaid. The vast majority of NPs work for someone else just like PAs. Within these jobs there are varying degrees of autonomy. Autonomy in a particular job is earned. Its not earned by demonstrating "independence", its earned by demonstrating competence.

If you consider practice ownership as "independence" then the percentage of PAs owning practices is similar to the percentage of NPs at around 2%. For PAs this is probably an understatement since the last salary survey put the percentage with some type of ownership at 4.5%.

The primary difference between NPs and PAs in my opinion is scope. The NP scope is defined by their training and certification. PA scope is defined by the the supervising physician. Depending on where you practice the scope can be very similar or more limited.

David Carpenter, PA-C