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

[ConfusedNurse202]

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? 

[londonflo]

I felt I was stuck teaching with a small salary.(we had to personally pay for everything. I remember when our dean came into the bathroom and I was washing 'overhead plastic' (in the sink.). These pieces of paper were limited to faculty. I KNEW I would be washing them again after the next program. Even when our accrediting body said we have never seen such smaller salaries for a BSN program. 

THE LIGHT CAME ON!  I love antiques and started a small business in a mall.

I worked it every weekend and I mean EVERY when there was an auction at an multigeneral home...isn't that possible where you live? .

 (PS never believe what other dealers tell you.."had a $6,000 weekend at xxxx fairgrounds, " I sell X amount with a booth that is congested...I just throw the stuff in.") 

This is only my opinion: Don't try to compete with all sellers for glass ect. Pick something you know about or want to know about. I study my specialty like I did my nursing books .  Sometimes I meet an X-Nurse in this business..they love working for themselves!

 

 

[alfredbo1]

Best of luck to you with this situation!

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

Psychiatric NPs make bank. If I was you I would go for it. It puts you in the drivers seat for your career vs your one and only hospital. They aren't treating you fairly

[Millie Mardahay]

I think by overtime you mean shift differential and/or oncall rate. These are different than overtime which federally regulated as many have stated. 

But, going for an NP just to make money? Consider the cost of education and how long will it take you to get licensed. As a psych nurse you may have some telemetry options. There are travel agencies that staff remotely for telehealth. I suggest you spend sometime on research. It is disheartening your rate is so low. You might as well consider getting Masters and working as a Nurse Specialist ( CNS) which is a little cheaper than NP. Does your state allow for independent practice? If you have critical care background, check out CRNA programs

[ponderingDNP]

ConfusedNurse202 said:

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 

That's the type of commute I make for my fulltime position. I transferred witjin my organization from an hour commute one way to at least a two-hour minimum, on the night shift. My pay jumped from $86k to $120k. I have an ASN, BSN, and MSN. The $120k is for my experience, having the BSN, and specifically the location of the job. I'm hoping for a WFH position as well, even if the pay is a little less. But sometimes we have to give up a little comfort to get to where we want to be BEFORE the end. Remember, the end justifies the means.

Having a little one is definitely a motivating factor. Sweet and cuddly needs will turn into baseball or soccer practice, competitions, tournaments, vacations, proms, graduations, college, etc. It's never going to be a good time to be uncomfortable.

Have you considered traveling to the nearest city to secure a PRN position? That ways you can get the extra coins on your own terms after the initial orientation shifts.