Negotiating Salary -- Do it!

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Specializes in General Med/Surg.

Hello,

I just needed to vent a little... Today I accepted a psych NP position without countering on their salary offer. All I asked for was annual CME conference allowance, separate personal malpractice allowance, and up-front payment for my DEA number, all of which they immediately had no problem with. I hung up think, UGH I should have countered on the pay! I just lost 10,000!

It's a full-time position with standard benefits, including 5 weeks vacation. At least I had the nerve to ask for those three extra items.

The last RN position I had was the first (and only) time I ever counter-offered on pay. I must have been feeling especially bold that day, because I earned 7500.00 in only a couple of hours. I thought to myself that never again will I accept the first amount... oops! I guess I wasn't feeling very bold today.

I don't think I'm far off on the pay with this job, but I definitely could have gotten at least another 5k. I think employers EXPECT us to counter. When we don't, we're the ones that lose. If you don't counter on pay, certainly ask for things like malpractice pay, extra vacation, a doctor's parking space at the hospital, etc. (I know one person on here asked for that parking space and got it!)

I want to encourage everyone to JUST ASK! They expect it. I'm sure the PAs and MDs do it, and probably more nurses do it now than in the past. If you need a buddy to stand with you in your kitchen for extra courage while you're on the phone, do it! I didn't have anyone, just my dog... she was helpful afterwards, always accepting me with my many limitations! We're a power force to reckon with, especially when we stand our ground. So DO IT.

Onward and upward.

JC

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

Great topic! So the problem as I see it is when you start adding all the misc $1,000 stuff in like malpractice, DEA, an office with a window, name brand Kleenex etc. that by the time you get to actual salary they are rolling their eyes like you are a petulant child.

I prefer to start with salary first and negotiate the extra stuff second if even needed. After my first NP job I have told the prospective employer my salary requirements up front so there hasn't been any negotiating. I always work as medical staff so physician parking isn't something I had to ask for or even consider a perk. Of course I park in the physician lot and I eat the pastries from the physician's lounge too. ;)

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

Carolyn Buppert,RN JD, Medscape Nursing legal columnist has posted many article's regarding Nurse Practitioner issues, especially salary negotiations. See these Medscape articles for expert advice and check out her personal website for additional articles:

Beginning Employment: A Guide for the New Nurse Practitioner

How Do You Determine a Nurse Practitioner's Salary?

State and Local APN Salary Data: The Best Evidence for Negotiations

What Should I Know About Percentage-Based Salaries?

Straight Salary or Productivity-Based Compensation for NPs?

How Do I Negotiate a Contract With a Prospective Employer?

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My first NP position also taught me the value in negotiating. I negotiated a $4,000 increase on the salary offer but only asked about CME and other benefits and did not include these in my formal negotiations. It was not until after I started the position that I realized this was a mistake. I found myself haggling with the CEO for continuing education and being offered a non-competitive amount. As I had no contract to stipulate my benefits, the CEO just lumped me into regular nursing staff in regards to raises, CME, licensing fees, etc. This eventually improved but not without significant headache on my part. I agree with asking for anything you think important before you accept a position and make sure you have it in writing.

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Specializes in psychiatric.

NRSKarenRN, Thanks for those links, super helpful info for the future. The director of my unit is already throwing lines out to me regarding taking a position when I graduate, and I know they are thinking I'll jump at the first offer.

OP, thanks for the laugh about the dog, what would we do without their adoration, eh?

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Specializes in General Med/Surg.

NRSKaren, and everyone else, great information! Boy do I wish I had access to all this before I accepted. I don't think I am far off at all, but still can't help but kick myself a little for not at least trying. I am in the process of making peace with it and I know it will be OK. I never imagined I would make this much money, I'm in 6 figures, so I'm way more than happy for that. I feel like I'm being greedy if I asked for more, seriously. The national average according to 2015 Advanced Practice (?) magazine is about 95k.

It sounds like everyone that posted here is doing an awesome job of self-advocating. You're all excellent role models for those of us short on the skill of self-advocating.

:yes:

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Specializes in NICU.

I didn't negotiate my salary, but I felt I was offered a great amount for a new graduate NP. I was actually told in one of my clinical sites that you shouldn't negotiate because they could (and did to this person at my clinical site) take away the offer of a job altogether.

Has anyone had any experience with that?

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Specializes in ACNP-BC, Adult Critical Care, Cardiology.

There are jobs were negotiating is not required...like were I currently work. There are predetermined salary grades based on years of experience agreed upon by a collective bargaining agreement contract. Basically, you get an offer of employment then are asked to log in to a salary calculator "app" website that factors in the years of total nursing experience and NP experience then puts you on a salary step or tier. Raises and bonuses are determined by the same union contract. But in general, I agree that learning to negotiate can be beneficial.

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Specializes in General Med/Surg.

BabyNP, I've never heard of that. Glad you feel good about what you're getting, so that's awesome. That's like this job for me, I thought it was an amount I was comfortable with, so I didn't feel the need to ask for more. Congratulations on your new career!

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.
I didn't negotiate my salary, but I felt I was offered a great amount for a new graduate NP. I was actually told in one of my clinical sites that you shouldn't negotiate because they could (and did to this person at my clinical site) take away the offer of a job altogether.

Has anyone had any experience with that?

I have never heard anything like this and it worries me that again nurses are not treating business like business. Obviously if the offer is within your area's rates or what you presented as your salary requirements I wouldn't automatically try to get a few more bucks but to just take what is offered because they might rescind their offer sounds off to me. Even as a new grad I knew my value and wasn't even slightly apologetic about asking for my salary requirements. Maybe others will write in with their experiences and opinions but this sounds like yet another reason there are NPs working for peanuts. :(

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Specializes in NICU.

Yeah, I was really shocked when I heard the person say that- it was a hospital she had applied to in Indiana. Maybe the midwest isn't as welcoming to that sort of thing. It did kind of freak me out to not even think about asking for more money, but I lucked out in the end.

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I'm currently negotiating my salary and to be honest, for me its not about the money, but about stepping up for the value of NPs and what we should get paid. If we, as nurses, don't stand up for ourselves, no one else will.

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