I am bringing this to the public forum here, to help benefit others who may be looking to learn more about Neonatal NP's, as suggested by the member who PM'd me this information, I hope it is helpful to our readers.
Like I had said before, NICU is a very self-selective area, you either usually love it or hate it and if you love it, there are less people who want to leave the bedside to be a NP and more people who want to leave the bedside who do not want to do nights, weekends, and holidays for the duration of their career.
There is a shortage of NNPs and as the age of the average NNP is in the late 40s (I believe I heard that), it's only going to get worse and there aren't as many programs available now. The wage of NNPs is noted to be among the highest of NPs due to it being an in-patient role, an intensivist role, and to being a shortage. I personally know of one hospital that offers 15% extra on top of their salary for being a NNP compared to other NPs in the institution simply because it is highly sought after.
If we have a flood of new NNPs, certainly wages could go down (as general economic rules dictate), but I don't believe even with a flood of new NNPs that this will happen. NICUs are growing larger, not smaller, and more NNPs are running NICUs with fewer neonatologists. This is good business for the hospital if you can have an attending neo supervising the care of 20 babies while the NNP runs the day-to-day show with 2 NNPs managing primary care of 10 babies each. This is what actually occurs in most of the academic centers already.
Another thing to factor in is that the pediatric residency no longer requires 3 months of NICU, they only require 2 months, which leaves these hospitals shorter (in these institutions, there is usually a team of residents who manage primary care of babies with a supervising neo). Now some programs will keep on their 3 months of requirements, but the fact that it's no longer required will mean that some programs will not have it and will thus leave the NICU short for those months and who would fill the job demand but NNPs.
But I would keep in mind that if you don't love babies, the job probably isn't for you. I'm extremely lucky that I love this and get paid so well for it. But I'd be miserable otherwise because I know that I will work some nights, some weekends, and some holidays for the rest of my career. It's part of the deal. And for some nurses, that's a deal breaker. I don't have kids yet, but I know it will be tough once I do.
Anybody else wanting to add to this, please share.
