Not sure if I should look for a new job

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Sorry, this is my first post so let me know if I did anything wrong!

Basically I don't know if I should look for a new job or continue working at my current office. I am in my early 30s and I work for a small-medium private practice in a specialty (I don't want to give too much away) in the southeast. I make 80,000 per year and the practice I work for doesn't really give raises. That said, I don't have kids and my husband and I are DINKS (double income no kids) so while more money would be nice I admit it's not a HUGE deal. I get 10 vacation days per year and after 5 years I will get 15. And that's the max I will ever get. No sick time. If I'm sick that comes out of my pto for vacation.

So on to why my job is amazing. Relatively low stress, 30 minute appointments and usually I'm not fully booked. Sometimes I will have like 8 patients a day sometimes 16. A good mix of office visits and procedures. Most of the patients are very nice. Our medical director is great, extremely intelligent, very nice and respectful. He has become like family to me at this point. I know so much about our specialty and feel very confident with almost everyone who walks in the door (or if I don't I call the medical director/supervising physician and he will walk me through it. Sometimes I even just text him a picture if I'm not sure). It is very important to me to have low stress at work. When I was a floor nurse I was constantly stressed and I promised I wold never put myself through that again.

On to the cons:

I feel some of what we do is pointless. Some of the procedures I really think we go overboard and are treating people who ultimately aren't going to get much better. The 10 days of vacation is also simply not enough. I want to see the world and feel I can't do that. My husband gets like 4 weeks of vacation. Also I don't know if how much I make is in line with other people of my experience level. I'm not sure if the knowledge I'm gaining is going to be super helpful in any other area. If I got fired and had to work in primary care I would be like a new grad unless their complaint was something related to my current specialty. Sometimes also we don't get a medical assistant and that can be really stressful especially when there are a lot of procedures or new patients (aka lots of charting). I also feel really bad when we have patients getting serious side effects (health wise or cosmetically displeasing) from our treatment. I also have to drive really far sometimes depending on which office I'm in (sometimes as far as an hour each way). I usually have to commute 2-3 times a week. Sometimes less sometimes more.

ANYWAY, sorry for the wall of text but I just needed some insight from folks who have had more experiences than me. I will say all of our NPs and PAs (we have 8) have been working here for YEARS, very low turnover rate. Maybe I'm just being a baby and should leave well enough alone.

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If you want to go on a long vacation with your husband make arrangements for a leave of absence. I doubt you would find the quality of the grass to be perfect elsewhere.

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Specializes in allergy and asthma, urgent care.

You're not going to find a perfect situation anywhere. That being said, no raises and very little vacation are deal breakers for me. Your salary is low to begin with, and every year you don't get a raise it's actually getting lower, as the cost of living increases.

I don't think it would hurt to look around and see what's out there. You're not under any obligation to stay where you are. The best time to look for another job is when you already have one.

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Thanks so much! I think I will start "looking around" and just see what's out there. I also get good benefits (medial, dental, 401 k, etc). Worst case I don't find anything better and best case I get a job that is maybe more fulfilling and with better benefits.

One of the other pros to my job is no weekends, holidays, on call, hospital etc. I literally sleep like a baby every night and when I was on the floor I would literally be so worried about how the next day would be that I could barely sleep. So to me that is definitely worth getting paid less (maybe i'm weird).

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Sounds like you have a good job. You can ask for more vacation or if there is a special trip you want to take, then ask for the time off. Since they don't give raises, I think it is fair to ask for some more vacation sooner than 5 years. Or ask for a week or two of unpaid leave. Good luck!

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Specializes in NICU.

Yeah your job sounds like it's terrible. I get 7 weeks PTO, healthcare, dental, matching 401k, and my pay is >100k. I work for a big corporation and at a hospital (so, nights, weekends, holidays), but still...

Keep in mind that even if you don't get a raise, cost of living still marches up. Hate to wonder how one can live on $80k 30 years from now...

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Specializes in DHSc, PA-C.

If you're in a specialty doing a lot of procedures (like derm or an aesthetics practice) you are very under paid.

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Specializes in EMS, LTC, Sub-acute Rehab.

I learned late in my second career that pay is important to me, but not the most important thing in my life. I left an extremely well paying job primarily because of a negative corporate culture and salary sucking the life out of me. I realized I'd rather make less and be in an environment more conducive to my goals and values. Though the pay is not the same, I travel more now and have time off to enjoy life.

If you can renegotiate for more time off at your current rate, it will be similar to raise. But more importantly it will allow for time off to do what you enjoy. Things may also eventually change at the practice and that's something to keep in mind.

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Thanks everyone,

I will continue looking around just to see what is out there and see if I get any other offers. I guess the good part is I can be fairly picky and if nothing seems better than my current job I'll just stay where I'm at. I was thinking about asking for more vacation I just don't know that I have any leverage. I am allowed to take unpaid leave which I have done before but it kind of sucks not getting paid lol. My only concern about looking for other jobs is that our medical director is extremely well known and has a lot of friends so I'm a little worried that someone will tell him, however that seems pretty unlikely.

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Thanks for the helpful insight?

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Specializes in Urgent Care, Oncology.

I would see what you could leverage. I've had it go both ways, so keep in mind it could go south.

When I worked at the Urgent Care I was the only nurse who stuck around. We lost 4 nurses in 1 week (1 become FNP, 1 had a breakdown, 1 took a traveling assignment, and 1 moved to another state to be with family) so it was literally just me working for 6 weeks straight with PRN fillers. I also took on a travel assignment for this company for 4 months. At the end of that assignment I asked for more money ($2 more, but would have taken $1) and the set schedule that I was promised but lost 6 months prior when there were no nurses. They just looked at me like I was crazy. I put my notice in and found a new job.

Next job I loved and needed a better schedule because of the commute. It was a state nursing job so pay was crap and non-negotiable. But, since they liked my work they let me work 4 10's instead of 5 8's and let me flex my schedule as needed. They were also awesome when I had a kidney stone and didn't have any PTO. Anything I asked for (within reason) they got for me and listened to my ideas and input about the organization. Eventually the commute got to me and I couldn't do it anymore so I had to move on.

My point is, know what you are worth and see if they're willing to deal. I'll let others chime in and see if they agree. I am no a NP but a RN so maybe bargaining is different for that role?

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