Future Market Saturation

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I found this interesting blog that discusses the significant increases in production of various healthcare providers including NPs. According to reported data, new graduate NPs have increased 142% over the last decade. There are historical cycles of boom and bust in nursing and it appears we are in a cycle of surplus for new graduate RNs in some areas. Does anyone feel that we are producing too many NPs that may also face a surplus in the near future? A future surplus may not affect experienced NPs as much as new graduates and may be regionally dependent. Anecdotally it seems many staff nurses I know want to go back to school to become an NP. I would be interested to hear the thoughts of other NPs. Is this something to be concerned about?

Specializes in NICU.
I wonder if part of the difficulty attracting applicants is the low rate of pay? FNPs in this area make that much without anywhere near the level of skill or precarious population you are caring for. There is no way I'd touch those sweet babies for less than $150,000 a year.

oh, Jules, pot stirrin' away like always ;) I will agree to disagree with you.

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.
oh, Jules, pot stirrin' away like always ;) I will agree to disagree with you.

Lol, no need to disagree I was just suggesting a possibility, adding my opinion and sharing what I know to be true regarding wages in my area. :D

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you could sling a cat on a med surg floor or ICU and hit 12 nurses going back to NP school. 13 on a friday

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Sure every nurse now wants to be an NP. I think the bigger picture here is how bad it is to be a bedside nurse these days. Not too many years ago RNs had more autonomy and were treated far better. Now they are forced to work short and basically check boxes and complete stupid care plans. Scan everything and get in trouble when something does not scan. Get nasty emails when they clock in two minutes early or a minute late. RNs are treated like children and no wonder so many want to leave the bedside.

An instructor told me years ago that trouble was is that nursing is considered a cost center and had not way to represent revenue and that was the reason they are treated so badly. I am glad I was able to work as an RN when things were not so horrible and could never ever go back to the bedside now.

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you could sling a cat on a med surg floor or ICU and hit 12 nurses going back to NP school. 13 on a friday

I got to test that theory.....now where did the neighbors cat run of to.

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Specializes in Occ. Hlth, Education, ICU, Med-Surg.
you could sling a cat on a med surg floor or ICU and hit 12 nurses going back to NP school. 13 on a friday

Exactly what type of cat would this be...I would think that all cats are not aerodynamically equal given fur distribution, weight, tail length, etc. :cat:

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I would be careful about doing online/for-profit NP programs. When hiring gets competitive, companies will likely look toward educational background in making hiring decisions. Its similar with law. There's a glut of lawyers, and those from top ten schools will be hired before a second tier school or below.

My company has had open positions for NPs but doesn't hire graduates of online programs, so they remain open.

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

My company has had open positions for NPs but doesn't hire graduates of online programs, so they remain open.

My area is becoming more aware of the different quality of programs and their students also.

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yeah up until this point NP school was pretty much a gold set into a job in most places. Its fallen into the field of most degrees now though where you have to actually be good and/or go to a good school in order to get a decent job.

Which really isnt a bad thing completely since all the scrubs that go to online discussion board mills will be out on the streets with huge debt. Mostly just knocks out people who shouldnt be holding an Rx pad for any reason other than carrying it from one end of the clinic to the patient's hand.

I mean who cant get into a program with no standards, no challenge (minus a board exam lol), and who can breath while walking across the stage.

At least with med schools and somewhat PA schools you know you are getting somebody with half a brain. Whether or not whoever is diagnosing chooses to use it or not is up to the person.

NP schools just require a pulse, and some are fine with a 3rd degree AV block.

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Specializes in ED, Cardiac-step down, tele, med surg.
yeah up until this point NP school was pretty much a gold set into a job in most places. Its fallen into the field of most degrees now though where you have to actually be good and/or go to a good school in order to get a decent job.

Which really isnt a bad thing completely since all the scrubs that go to online discussion board mills will be out on the streets with huge debt. Mostly just knocks out people who shouldnt be holding an Rx pad for any reason other than carrying it from one end of the clinic to the patient's hand.

I mean who cant get into a program with no standards, no challenge (minus a board exam lol), and who can breath while walking across the stage.

At least with med schools and somewhat PA schools you know you are getting somebody with half a brain. Whether or not whoever is diagnosing chooses to use it or not is up to the person.

NP schools just require a pulse, and some are fine with a 3rd degree AV block.

I think this is an overgeneralization, though I'm sure there are some degree mills out there. NYU, Colombia, UCSF, etc have excellent NP programs. I'm a little skeptical of the online programs.

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Specializes in Family Medicine & psychiatry.

Stick to the facts. You're speculating about saturation but not providing any data to substantiate your claim of saturation. Yes, there are a lot of RN and NP students, however I wouldn't worry about over saturation at this time. The BLS predicts a 32% growth through year 2025 for NPs as there are currently a little over 205,000 NPs currently practicing in the U.S.. Nurse Practitioners with previous experience in nursing (as an RN) and a bachelors of science in nursing will fair better in finding work and getting paid well than someone with no nursing experience. If I was in a position of hiring, which I plan to be someday, I would not hire a NP fresh out of school with no RN experience or with only an associates degree in nursing with a bachelors in some other field. I believe that with the growing number of NPs going into healthcare, and with the increasing autonomy we are being afforded, a precedent for higher standards of education and experience/training needs to be set. If you are considering NP school, then don't go to a "nurse-mil" school. Choose a good school (even if it means waiting a little) and get your feet wet as an RN for a couple of years at least. You will thank yourself for that and you will be much more respected as a provider.

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Specializes in Family Medicine & psychiatry.

I agree, if I was in a position of hiring, I would ask the question: how many years of experience do you have as an RN and do you have a BSN? If they answer anything less than 2 years of RN experience and no BSN, then automatic disqualification. I wouldn't want to know if they did an online program either, cause I would be inclined to disqualify that candidate as well...

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