Are NPs expected to be happy and cheerful?

Oldmahubbard · Feb 17, 2018

If you are working with appropriate staffing, and are reasonably well compensated, being pleasant but professional should not be a herculean effort.

If despite decent pay and working conditions, you find that you cannot be pleasant, you should ask yourself some serious questions.

Should you look for a different job? Do you have personal problems that need attention? Might mental health treatment be of benefit?

Is your bad attitude your own fault, and is it something you can control?

With regards to the NPs, if I were making 80 or 90k, it would be rather difficult to smile though.

Knowing I am bringing in 350 in reimbursements.

allnurses Guide · Feb 17, 2018

Knowing I am bringing in 350 in reimbursements.

This is why NPs need independent practice: to reset the market. I have several colleagues that see 25+ patients per day and bring in at least $600-700k/year that are being paid $100-120k/year. Physicians have been making a killing on NP and PA for a long time.

Oldmahubbard · Feb 18, 2018

This is why NPs need independent practice: to reset the market. I have several colleagues that see 25+ patients per day and bring in at least $600-700k/year that are being paid $100-120k/year. Physicians have been making a killing on NP and PA for a long time.

Just gross and disgusting. I am not sure who is working this hard for this reimbursement. In my world, which is Psych, reimbursement averages at most 200 dollars an hour. Still it works out to over 300k, considering an 8 hour work day and fair PTO.And Psych NPs often make 100k.

Yes, they are making a huge killing off us, and the "supervision" or "collaboration" consists of a few minutes on the fly.

Our collaboration requirements were discontinued on 1/1/2015 for experienced NPs. The Governor said that the collaboration requirement was a financial arrangement, not a clinical arrangement.

allnurses Guide · Feb 18, 2018

Just gross and disgusting. I am not sure who is working this hard for this reimbursement. In my world, which is Psych, reimbursement averages at most 200 dollars an hour. Still it works out to over 300k, considering an 8 hour work day and fair PTO.And Psych NPs often make 100k.
Yes, they are making a huge killing off us, and the "supervision" or "collaboration" consists of a few minutes on the fly.
Our collaboration requirements were discontinued on 1/1/2015 for experienced NPs. The Governor said that the collaboration requirement was a financial arrangement, not a clinical arrangement.

And many NP-owned practices have to pay a physician 30-40k a year to "review" charts which consists of 15-20 minutes four times a year.

Soliloquy, MSN, APRN, NP · Mar 2, 2018

If you are working with appropriate staffing, and are reasonably well compensated, being pleasant but professional should not be a herculean effort.
If despite decent pay and working conditions, you find that you cannot be pleasant, you should ask yourself some serious questions.
Should you look for a different job? Do you have personal problems that need attention? Might mental health treatment be of benefit?
Is your bad attitude your own fault, and is it something you can control?
With regards to the NPs, if I were making 80 or 90k, it would be rather difficult to smile though.
Knowing I am bringing in 350 in reimbursements.

80-90k is an incredibly lowball offer for an NP. But maybe it's more accepted in areas where RNs are paid relatively less. In the east coast that is easy to make working PRN at some facilities with benefits included. To be honest, I haven't heard of any NPs who make that much EXCEPT online. Many of the new NPs I spoke to said that they were offered about 105 or somewhere in the 6 figure range as a start, even in states that had restrictive practice. I'm still a student and learning but I wouldn't want to work as a provider making that much knowing that my licensing cost and responsibilities are higher. That's stress.

Riburn3, BSN, MSN, APRN, NP · Mar 5, 2018

Honest question. My experience at the bedside, it seemed like hospitals always tried to shove down our throats the need to have a smiling, servitude style "Is there anything else I can do for you?" demeanor. In a more independent and authority role, do you find that you are also required and expected (I'm sure it can help) to have this demeanor as well?

As other's have said, patients are also consumers, they often have a choice in where they receive their healthcare, so it's prudent to be nice.

That said, what is actually wrong with being happy and cheerful? Obviously the situation has to warrant it, but as a provider, I try to always be friendly and upbeat with my patients as possible. Think of some of the best providers you know, and more often than not, they're usually very positive, happy people, with an excellent bedside manner. When I think of the providers I would never want to touch me, most of them are grumpy jerks that talk down to nurses, and have little interaction with their patients. Attitude and demeanor is a huge deal in this field, and I know I wouldn't want to be laying in bed sick, talking to a provider that seems annoyed that they have to be nice.

The way you project yourself to patients and family is arguably more important than the medical knowledge you keep in your brain. You can always look something up if you don't know it, but it's a lot harder to fix a bad demeanor.