Is going on to be a NP my only option to make more money?

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Hello everyone! I am looking for some insight and career advice. 
 

so here's my situation, I live in a very small rural town in the Midwest. My husbands job is regional to here and all of our family is also near. We built our house on his families land. We have a 2 year old son. Moving is not an option do us with my husbands job, having built our house on family land, and relying on family for childcare. 
 

I have been a psychiatric nurse for 6 years now and work at the one and only healthcare facility near us. I make $30/hr after all differentials which evens out to just over 56k a year. While my husband makes okay money for the area, my salary isn't enough to max out my retirement accounts and travel the way I won't I be able to. I want to start making more money to secure my future as an individual and to ensure in case my husband where to die young, we got divorced etc, I want to be sure long term I as well as my son would be secure financially. Unfortunately nursing does not give me that option in my location 

travel nursing is not an option for me with a young child and I don't want to leave him for extended periods of time. Local travel is not a thing anywhere close to me for that to be a feasible option. The hospital I currently work at is the only job option available for nurses in my area. Outpatient clinics and things of that nature are not a thing here. Overtime is only an extra $3/hr. I've applied for remote nursing jobs for over 2 years now and have never gotten a call back 
 

it seems like my only option to make over the 80k in my area is to be a NP, specifically a psychiatric nurse practitioner. If I went this route, I would have to commute to the city, about 1.5 hours away until I got enough experience to WFH or do telehealth. PMHNPs in the city start off at about 130k. I only several nurses who have done this and now do telehealth from home and make >150k. It seems like this is my only option to be able to make significantly more money given my location and circumstances. Any insight? 

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Overtime is only an extra $3/hr.

Huh? How is that?

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JKL33 said:

Huh? How is that?

That's just what my facility pays. They are the only healthcare facility within a commutable distance so they know nurses don't have really any options for employment and therefore can pay whatever they want 

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It isn't up to three facility to determine how they are going to pay overtime. 

Ypu might find the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division Overtime Pay and How to File a Complaint sites helpful.

Best wishes.

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Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.

$3.00/hr overtime....  Is that shift differential?

otherwise illegal, check Chare's links and file a complaint if not getting time and 1/2 for working over 40/hrs week / 80hrs q2 weeks.

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chare said:

It isn't up to three facility to determine how they are going to pay overtime. 

Ypu might find the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division Overtime Pay and How to File a Complaint sites helpful.

Best wishes.

I will look into it but regardless, I don't want to work overtime all the time. Maybe an extra shift or 2 here or there  a month but I don't want to live at work and miss time with my baby just to make 70-80k a year. And with our childcare situation, I really can't work OT a whole lot anyways 

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NRSKarenRN said:

$3.00/hr overtime....  Is that shift differential?

otherwise illegal, check Chare's links and file a complaint is not getting time and 1/2 for working over 40/hrs week / 80hrs q2 weeks.

My state law states OT does not start until after 46 hours. So I would have to work 5 12s a week before OT kicked in. They offer $3 extra an hour to pick up a shift after the normal 3 12s. Night shift diff is $1.50 more an hour, float pool is the the same, charge is an extra $1/hr, weekends an extra 2/hr here sadly 

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ConfusedNurse202 said:

My state law states OT does not start until after 46 hours. So I would have to work 5 12s a week before OT kicked in. They offer $3 extra an hour to pick up a shift after the normal 3 12s. Night shift diff is $1.50 more an hour, float pool is the the same, charge is an extra $1/hr, weekends an extra 2/hr here sadly 

Your employer must follow FLSA, federal law. It doesn't matter what your state law says unless it's more generous than federal.

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JKL33 said:

Your employer must follow FLSA, federal law. It doesn't matter what your state law says unless it's more generous than federal.

I'll look more into it but like I said, regardless, I have no desire to work 4+ 12s frequently

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Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.

Overtime Pay poster

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Every employer of employees subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act's minimum wage provisions must post, and keep posted, a notice explaining the Act in a conspicuous place in all of their establishments --have you checked your workplace poster?

Look into maximizing all your employer benefits.  Do they offer 401K or 403b or Roth IRA programs. By socking away 5% pay, one barely notices difference as comes out PRETAX.  Many hospitals will match contribution up to a certain percentage which increases often q5 years of employment.   Choosing an index or retirement dated fund, often yields higher return with compounded interest on reinvestments.

Do they pay more for specialty certifications?  BSN degree, have clinical ladder?  Have an Infusion /PICC team?   All ways to add pay without excessive overtime.

Your smart to be looking long term for family/retirement needs.  Make sure you have short and long term disability insurance which provides 60% of base pay in case of illness/accident.  Continue to previously check hiring in your area.  Indeed.com seems to have the broadest positions posted in my area.   Join LinkedIn to post resume there -- recruiters often look there.

Best wishes for a successful career.

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NRSKarenRN said:

Overtime Pay poster

Look into maximizing all your employer benefits.  Do they offer 401K or 403b or Roth IRA programs. By socking away 5% pay, one barely notices difference as comes out PRETAX.  Many hospitals will match contribution up to a certain percentage which increases often q5 years of employment.   Choosing an index or retirement dated fund, often yields higher return with compounded interest on reinvestments.

Do they pay more for specialty certifications?  BSN degree, have clinical ladder?  Have an Infusion /PICC team?   All ways to add pay without excessive overtime.

Your smart to be looking long term for family/retirement needs.  Make sure you have short and long term disability insurance which provides 60% of base pay in case of illness/accident.  Continue to previously check hiring in your area.  Indeed.com seems to have the broadest positions posted in my area.   Join LinkedIn to post resume there -- recruiters often look there.

Best wishes for a successful career.

They do not offer a Roth IRA or anything like that. They just have a 401k but only with 3% match and the max it goes to is 5%. They do not have a picc team or anything of that nature. It's an extremely small hospital. The highest level of care we give is give blood. anything more and patients get shipped out. I have my BSN and it's no more pay than a ASN. They do not pay more for qualifications or certifications. I did get my psych certification years ago and keep it renewed but they don't pay extra for it. They do not have a clincial ladder. This is a very very small hospital in the middle of nowhere. There are 30 beds in the entire hospital 
 

 I'm pretty maxed out on pay with working nights and being charge nurse. I work weekends occasionally when scheduled. And like I said, even if I wanted to work a bunch of OT, it's not possible for me at the moment with little one. 
 

we live in a VERY small town. Our entire county has a population of 800 people. The nearest grocery store is a 30 minute drive from our house. There are just no options here. Our town has a population of 150 people and has a general store and a post office and 2 stop signs. There are no job options 

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.

How far away do you live from a city (like, greater than 50,000 people)? What state do you live in?

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