very curious of supply & demand for NP & CRNAs in the future, any thoughts?

[nursetobeat33]

Hi, How did you all decide to pursue in higher Nursing career such as NP or CRNA? I have done some research and watched many Youtube (just saw one NP who was working in Texas and he saw no future as NP because there are now too many NPs he has decided to become a CRNA) and saw that many schools are just pouring out a lot of NPs and CRNAs right now and there are actually a lot of surplus of NPs. Nursing is a generally a "specialty" where you have to learn education in this specialty and obtain a license to work in this field. I ask this question because I am already in my 30s trying to enter nursing field and someday I want to become a CRNA many years later. By the time that I become a CRNA I will be in my 40s, if there is surplus when I became CRNA at 40s what will I do? how do you guys figure out if this will be safe and always hiring specialty? any comments or thoughts will be very appreciated!!:)

[HopefulCRNA2B, BSN, RN]

I decided on CRNA after learning there were too many NPs and after spending 4 years as a Circulator. I doubt there will be a surplus of CRNAs by the time you're ready to enter a program. In my opinion, the current requirements are more than most nurses want to or can deal with. I think CRNAs will always be in demand as facilities (and the insurance companies that pay them) favor them. 

[DrCOVID, DNP]

I think you have to be very specific here; there is a surplus of FNP: 

https://www.AANP.org/about/all-about-nps/NP-fact-sheet

CRNA requirements and programs are much more challenging and competitive to enter; so I recommend either do that or do one of the bottom 5 NP specialties. I had no problem lining up work as a new PMHNP.

[verene, MSN]

I think that if you make yourself a competitive applicant there will always be jobs. I do see that there are concerns for oversaturation in primary care (and increasingly in psych/mental health), but I also think with the impacts of the covid-pandemic on healthcare staff at all levels and disciplines of practice, that the oversaturation may reverse, at least for a while. 

I will say my own experience as a PMHNP was that it was not that challenging to find a job I wanted right out of school, but I also started thinking about what kind of work I would want to do as a PMHNP before I even applied to a program and made sure that I gathered experiences along the way that would help me towards my different interest areas. Ironically, I ended up going into a subspecialty I didn't really think about until my final year of school, but it actually allowed me to combine skills/education from my pre-nursing career with my interests within mental health. 

I think, just as at the RN level, there will always be some geographical areas and some specialties where it is easier to find employment and others where it is more difficult, and that a lot of gaining and succeeding in a job comes down to making yourself competitive for the market in your area and/or being willing to relocate to where you would be competitive, and/or being willing to make compromises to your "dream" job for the sake of a "decent" job to build experience. 

[matthewandrew, NP]

Don’t worry about saturation, if there are people, there will be health issues and nursing will always be in demand. Just follow your passion. I love being an FNP, I have learned not only to take care of patients, but myself and loved ones.