Is Becoming A NP Worth It?

[danielle2000, MSN, RN]

I think the problem is not being able to make the transition from bedside wage to NP wage!!! As a RN on the floor you know you earn every penny stomping that pavement, only to come home tired and wishing for a better night shift. I have been doing nursing for 16 years and I am done! I started my nursing career late and I have no intentions pounding more pavement in my 60s. As I see it you work smarter not harder. I do not live above my means nor am I strapped down with an over the top mortgage. I always felt living is far superior than existing. I think for some it is worth it. You cannot put a price on a piece of mind!

[Black Coffee, RN]

I want to get my MSN-FNP due to many reasons. One of the most important reasons is to have time with my family. I work as a bedside nurse now, and the hours are not great at all. I currently work 0.8 FTE meaning I work a total of 4 shift (8 hour each) a week. The problem is that since I am a recent grad nurse (

As I will begin marriage life soon, I want to be able to be present for my kids and wife. And the schedule of a primary care provider works best for me. It is Mon - Fri from 9 to 5 pm only. No weekend and holidays whatsoever. I may make less or the same with my current salary (I work at Kaiser now), but the quality time with my family, in my own opinion, is priceless.

In addition, I don't have to crush my back with heavy patients, deal with politics, and many other stuffs in a big hospital setting. In contrast, I will enjoy being more autonomous and be able to do more for patients than just taking care of them. That is my opinion.

Thanks.

Joseph RN

[canchaser, BSN, RN]

Dreaming? As a NP in primary care insurance will dictate what tests are or aren't approved. The schedule is tight. That 15 minute slot is for VS, med reconciliation, and your time with patient. Usually less than 5 minutes. Charting most often occurs after everyone else has left. You take work home with you. The learning curve is big. Check out some of the NP sites in Facebook. Read the primary care posts. My PCP tells me he not done till 10-11 pm most nights. These providers hide the stress well. I work in the ED, I miss my 12 hours, shifts over- give report and go home. The pts keep flooding in, charting happens after my shift most often. There is an expectation for the provider to see so many pts a shift,from door to provider in less than 10 minutes, dispo in 2-3 hours, length of stay to be short, Each month I get my statistics- number of EKgs ordered, number of CT's and other testing. It comes out in a group Report so we can call see where we are in comparison. I'm spending 1-2 hours after shift finishing charts. Please check into this and think long and hard. I'm spending more time away from my family now than as a nurse.

you may want to look into nursing home rounding, my friend does this she has a very flexible schedule. She sees the acute Medicare patients, looks at the log book of complaints/ lab/ ua results. Has to keep up with all the primary care meds, but yet give if antibiotics for pneumonia and the like. She really enjoys the challenge. And it's Monday they Friday with minimal call. She hardly ever takes work home, and is out at a decent time.

[LatinSN88]

nice :)

[blixkanaan, MSN, APRN]

I work an average of 31 hours per week and make $90K per year. Additionally, I don't have a charge nurse, nurse educator, clinical nurse specialist, nurse management, or physicians telling me what to do or constantly watching over my shoulder. As an RN you put up with a lot of petty BS and it just gets old, no matter how much you're earning as a pool nurse working nights (they make the most as far as floor nursing is concerned). That is for example, management making sure you scan all your medications for interoperability; or fill the right forms out for heparin protocols; or making sure your in your patient's room giving report, not in the hall. The list goes on and that's the kind of BS I started to get sick of. Don't get me wrong, I did my time as an RN and enjoyed most of it. And if you are a new nurse, you should probably stick it out for a few years and rock out floor nursing before becoming an APN. For me, after 8 years collectively of being a nursing assistant (3 years) and floor RN (5 years), there comes a time you get sick of it and will seek some kind of career promotion. For me, that was becoming a family nurse practitioner. So to answer the original question. Hell yea, being an NP is worth it.