New Grad NP - which job would you take?

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Which would you choose?

An urgent care NP position or a CVS minute clinic position.

  • they both have the same schedule; 3 weekdays; 2 weekdays and 2 weekend days
  • CVS minute clinic hours:

Mo: Closed

Tu We Th Fr: 8:30 AM - 7:30 PM

Sat: 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM

Sun: 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM

  • Urgent Care clinic hours:

Monday through Friday – 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Saturday – 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Sunday – 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

  • Urgent care clinic pay - $45 per hour, 2 year contract/ noncompete with a 10 mile radius, 4 patients per hour goal
  • CVS minute clinic pay - unknown, but require 1 year of work prior to becoming parttime

The main difference is the location, one is located closer to my current home, but the other is located near the area I am interested in moving too.

Thanks for your opinions, and if you know how much CVS pays in South Carolina.

If the urgent care has other providers working at the same time I would take that over CVS. From my conversations with cvs NPs, They do all their own cleaning, ordering etc.

From what I understand, I would never work for a CVS. You are expected to roam the store and solicit customers. You are the janitor, medical assistant, nurse, etc. I've been told that if you have down time you are expected to tidy up the bathroom. It is not an atmosphere that a professional NP should find themselves in. Plus, the medicine is extremely banal and cook book.

I agree with above. Take the position where you interact with other co workers. CVS you are by yourself and limited to certain things you see. More experience with urgent care!

Urgent Care hands down. Think of your future marketability. I've asked NPs from retail clinic, their work is easy peasy and money is good but when you are not busy you are expected to market yourself in the pharmacy store and pass out brochures. Clean up your own clinic, help out. If that is your cup of tea that's great but I didn't go for a Master's Degree just so my clinic practice can be so protocolled and to be a sales person. you will not see everything you can in a CVS clinic. You can suspect a fracture but not actually diagnose it or treat it. Once you suspect a fracture you just tell them to go to the ER and get it taken care of. Also you take their insurance info so you can bill them for "seeing" for your fracture suspicion so the retail clinic can bill the patients for you not really doing anything other than maybe triaging them which a regular RN can do. Also you are your own registration and billing person who takes the insurance info on top of being a NP in a retail clinic. I know this because I went to a retail clinic as a patient and didn't tell the NP that I'm a NP.

Specializes in DHSc, PA-C.

Agree, urgent care is better environment, but $45/hr with a goal of 4 patients per hour is crappy pay.

Specializes in ED.
Specializes in ER, ICU, PACU, hospital medicine.

UC without a doubt. Better experience and knowledge growth. Easier to transition into other NP roles. Those minute clinic Nps have a hard time finding work elsewhere generally.

Wow awesome advice. And i agree 4 pts per hour for that pay sucks! But I am keeping my mind open to all these jobs. Thank you for all of your responses.

medspa experience anyone? I want that job!

What school did you get FNP degree

Urgent care but that is not great pay and 4 patients and hour will be stressful especially as a new grad. Agree that CVS is not ideal for a new grad. Too limited and you need to focus on building clinic knowledge, not cleaning, cashiering, and being an MA.

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