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

Nurses General Nursing

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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? 

klone said:

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

An hour and a half to 2+ hours depending on traffic and whether conditions. I have looked at job in the city and the pay is not much more than I make now. It would not be worth the gas money and the money I would spend on car maintenance, not long term anyways. Not to mention hotel money in the Winter when roads are bad and or tornados. I live in Kansas 

Specializes in Psychiatric and Mental Health NP (PMHNP).

While becoming an NP will likely increase your pay, it will take time and money to complete the additional education.  You will need to do clinicals and that will require you to physically go to where you can get your clinicals done.  If you live in a rural area, that means you will have to drive to your clinicals 2 or 3 days per week.  You will also have to go to school while you are working, which is not easy.  While there are online programs, some programs require students to come to the school once per semester for certain activities, such as learning physical exam skills and various simulations.

Please think long and hard about the financial benefits of being an NP.  Research what new grad NPs make in your area - it is going to be less than the "average" pay for NPs.  

You could also explore other options for your RN career, like case manager.  Some larger outpatient clinics also employ RNs, sometimes in a supervisory position.  For example, my first job was in a rural primary care clinic system with several offices.  They employed an RN as a manager over the LVNs and MAs.  There are also some primary care facilities that employ RNs.

In addition, be very sure you want to be a provider.  Are you prepared and do you desire to assess, diagnose, and develop treatment plans from patients?  A lot of RNs on this forum went to the trouble of earning their NP, then discover they do not like the provider role.

Good luck.

FullGlass said:

While becoming an NP will likely increase your pay, it will take time and money to complete the additional education.  You will need to do clinicals and that will require you to physically go to where you can get your clinicals done.  If you live in a rural area, that means you will have to drive to your clinicals 2 or 3 days per week.  You will also have to go to school while you are working, which is not easy.  While there are online programs, some programs require students to come to the school once per semester for certain activities, such as learning physical exam skills and various simulations.

Please think long and hard about the financial benefits of being an NP.  Research what new grad NPs make in your area - it is going to be less than the "average" pay for NPs.  

You could also explore other options for your RN career, like case manager.  Some larger outpatient clinics also employ RNs, sometimes in a supervisory position.  For example, my first job was in a rural primary care clinic system with several offices.  They employed an RN as a manager over the LVNs and MAs.  There are also some primary care facilities that employ RNs.

In addition, be very sure you want to be a provider.  Are you prepared and do you desire to assess, diagnose, and develop treatment plans from patients?  A lot of RNs on this forum went to the trouble of earning their NP, then discover they do not like the provider role.

Good luck.

Thank you. I've been heavily researching it for the last month or so and it does seem like this is my only route if I'm ever going to make significantly more money as an individual given my location and circumstances. I'm stuck here for the next 15+ years unless tragedy were to strike so I think in the long run, going the NP route is my best bet

 

My work will pay for a huge chunk of it and luckily we can swing me not working short term wage I start clincials and or school/work gets too hectic. I'm not stranger  to working and going to school full time simultaneously. I know I'll have to travel for clinicals which is okay short term, I just can't do it long term- years of a long commute. PMHNPs in my area start at around 120-130k which is significantly more money than I could ever make as a RN here 

 

Specializes in Psychiatric and Mental Health NP (PMHNP).
ConfusedNurse202 said:

Thank you. I've been heavily researching it for the last month or so and it does seem like this is my only route if I'm ever going to make significantly more money as an individual given my location and circumstances. I'm stuck here for the next 15+ years unless tragedy were to strike so I think in the long run, going the NP route is my best bet

 

My work will pay for a huge chunk of it and luckily we can swing me not working short term wage I start clincials and or school/work gets too hectic. I'm not stranger  to working and going to school full time simultaneously. I know I'll have to travel for clinicals which is okay short term, I just can't do it long term- years of a long commute. PMHNPs in my area start at around 120-130k which is significantly more money than I could ever make as a RN here 

 

PLEASE go to a reputable school, not a for-profit.  In other words, please don't go to Walden, Chamberlain, or a similar school.  They are ruining the NP profession.

Good luck.

Specializes in orthopedic/trauma, Informatics, diabetes.
FullGlass said:

Please think long and hard about the financial benefits of being an NP.  Research what new grad NPs make in your area - it is going to be less than the "average" pay for NPs.  

Where I worked (I just changed jobs) one of the nurses had just finished & passed her NP boards. The hosp offered her less $$ than she was making as a nurse. I'm afraid that the pay is not going to be much better for an advanced degree. 

I am a weekend option nurse and make over $60/hr. I'm sorry that you're stuck in such a crappy situation. What are they paying school nurses? Those might be better hours and perhaps you could pick up some PRN work occasionally 

mmc51264 said:

Where I worked (I just changed jobs) one of the nurses had just finished & passed her NP boards. The hosp offered her less $$ than she was making as a nurse. I'm afraid that the pay is not going to be much better for an advanced degree. 

I am a weekend option nurse and make over $60/hr. I'm sorry that you're stuck in such a crappy situation. What are they paying school nurses? Those might be better hours and perhaps you could pick up some PRN work occasionally 

There is only one school here and it's an elementary , middle and high school all in one. It never has openings but I know the pay is only like $23/hr. It's a huge pay increase to go from RN to NP here. My coworker just graduated and went from making 63k to 145k. So this is the path I am going to take 

Specializes in CCRN, CPAN.

If you like psychiatric  nursing, I'm sure you will like being a psychiatric NP, and you may be able to find a telehealth NP role in the future. I agree that it's important to find a reputable school that helps you get your clinical rotations. I prefer live class room instead of online.  The important thing is that you enjoy the work and that it is beneficial in the long run. 

Specializes in Critical Care.

Didn't  you say you would need to commute 1.5 hours a day when you get your NP for a job?  So keep in mind it isn't going to solve all your problems.  You know some NP's that are doing remote making $150K and do they have benefits like health insurance?  No guarantee you will also get that job at the end but will still have the student loans to pay back.  Usually if a hospital is paying tuition you have to stay with them for so many years, but again that doesn't guarantee they will give you an NP job, only if one is available.

As to a Roth IRA that is something you do yourself.  You and your spouse can each open one say at Fidelity or Vanguard usually need $1-3K to start and the government tells you how much you can set aside each year.  I'm retired so don't know what it is up to guessing maybe $6K.  Usually advice is start by putting enough into your 403b/401k to the match limit, then fund your IRA, then go back and fund what you can in your 403b/401k.  Reason being that you have control over that and can choose better funds than what is usually available in an employer plan.  If you have a high deductible health insurance plan you should open an HSA if you don't already have one and sometimes the hospital will add to that.  That is your money and you can take it with you when you leave, unlike an FSA where you have to guestimate, and they can keep it if you leave or you can only rollover $500 at the end of the year if you guessed wrong.  Really you should learn about personal finance, take a class or read up on it.

As to worrying about maxing out your retirement and a future divorce, well most people don't max out their retirement.  If you got a divorce, you would probably have to leave the house and lose the childcare so would be able to move then and have more options for better pay.  I wouldn't worry about the future.  Make the most of the money you have now as a couple by learning about personal finance.  It sounds like you have a lot going for you as a house on land given by family and free or low-cost childcare thru family!  So instead of worrying about maxing out your retirement and making the most money possible, appreciate what you have and find ways to stretch your money and that's where knowledge is power.  Most were never taught about money and so pay more than they should for everything.

Going back to school could make you more money in the long term, but if you end up having to pay for your own health insurance as some NP's find themselves in you might not be happy.  And grad school student loans, the interest rates are higher and starts capitalizing immediately there is no grace period, no bankruptcy options for student loans if you get sick, unemployed or things don't work out.  Student loan debt is the worst debt out there.  NP's usually work long hours on salary.  You have a lot to consider.  Especially since you want to enjoy your time with your children now while they are young.

Specializes in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation.
mmc51264 said:

Where I worked (I just changed jobs) one of the nurses had just finished & passed her NP boards. The hosp offered her less $$ than she was making as a nurse. I'm afraid that the pay is not going to be much better for an advanced degree. 

I am a weekend option nurse and make over $60/hr. I'm sorry that you're stuck in such a crappy situation. What are they paying school nurses? Those might be better hours and perhaps you could pick up some PRN work occasionally 

It's not uncommon for starting new grad NPs to make less as opposed to a bedside nurse. I believe FullGlass has a thread regarding bedside nursing pay versus NP and generally, bedside nursing will pay more because of the opportunities of overtime and the ability to work more (I.e. hospital nursing is 3 days/week meaning you could potential work 4 days extra of overtime or do another job). Kaiser here in California is known to pay substantially. My NP friend was still working PD at Kaiser when he finished NP school, I think he was getting around 85/hr hour so (around 5 or so years of experience) while his full time primary care job was paying around 65/hr or so. But as with any job, time and experience will net you more money. There will always be those niche jobs and specialties that can and will pay more if you look hard enough. Though, I am speaking from an FNP perspective, I don't really have a say on PMHNP work and pay.

Specializes in orthopedic/trauma, Informatics, diabetes.
barcode120x said:

bedside nursing will pay more because of the opportunities of overtime and the ability to work more 

I don't work OT. Do work weekends so there is a shift differential but it's not like I am working 4-5 shifts/week to make decent $$

Specializes in Psychiatric and Mental Health NP (PMHNP).
brandy1017 said:

Going back to school could make you more money in the long term, but if you end up having to pay for your own health insurance as some NP's find themselves in you might not be happy.  And grad school student loans, the interest rates are higher and starts capitalizing immediately there is no grace period, no bankruptcy options for student loans if you get sick, unemployed or things don't work out.  Student loan debt is the worst debt out there.  NP's usually work long hours on salary.  You have a lot to consider.  Especially since you want to enjoy your time with your children now while they are young.

Most NPs are employees and have health insurance provided by the employer.

As for student loans, please don't scare people about this.  There are many scholarships available, as well as loan repayment programs from both the federal and many state governments.  I had a full ride scholarship from HRSA for my MSN in return for 4 years public service.  There are many public service jobs available in rural and urban areas.  That is also true for loan repayment.  Some employers also offer loan repayment programs.  Millions and millions of dollars in scholarship money goes unclaimed every year.  Students can't just rely on their school - go out and do the research and apply for scholarships!  There is nothing wrong with some student debt.  Just figure out what you can reasonably afford.  For goodness sake, most people need a loan to buy a car or house.  An NP educaton is a similar life investment.  Let's say an NP can expect to start out making $120K per year and that should go up to around $150K per year.  In that case, they can afford some student debt!

 

Specializes in CCRN, CPAN.

I really think if your heart is into NP you should go for it. Mine was for a long time before I did and I wish I wouldn't have waited so long to decide. 

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