NP/ Educator Salaries in CA

Advanced Practice Columnist / Guide · Sep 26, 2011

It's hard to get consistent salary figures because there are various employment models for NP's -- those who work in private practice with a physician group, those who work for hospitals, and those who work as business owners. In addition, California being a large state has variations in salary by region and the general consensus is that the Northern cities and metro areas have higher salaries. You can use academic medical centers as a point of reference. Some of the University of California campuses (Irvine, LA, Davis, San Francisco, San Diego) have medical schools and affiliated medical centers and their salaries are in the public domain. You can type NP or RN in the salary search and you'll see how much they pay.

MandaRN94 · Sep 27, 2011

I had the same dilemma. If I went back to get my WHNP I would probably only make about $5 more an hr than I make now as an BSN RN also in CA. I can't justify a $45k loan for such a small pay raise. I really wanted to further my education so I'm currently in a MSN program with a focus on Public Health -still will open more doors but at 1/2 the price.

zenman · Sep 29, 2011

I'd consider more than salary. Do you want to be running around on the floor when you're older? Do you want to be considered a labor cost or a revenue generator? The provider status is much more pleasurable IMO. :up:

StarrySkies · Oct 2, 2011

It's hard to get consistent salary figures because there are various employment models for NP's -- those who work in private practice with a physician group, those who work for hospitals, and those who work as business owners. In addition, California being a large state has variations in salary by region and the general consensus is that the Northern cities and metro areas have higher salaries. You can use academic medical centers as a point of reference. Some of the University of California campuses (Irvine, LA, Davis, San Francisco, San Diego) have medical schools and affiliated medical centers and their salaries are in the public domain. You can type NP or RN in the salary search and you'll see how much they pay.

Thank you. I have actually been looking at UCSF trying to find salary figures, but have been unsuccessful. I am going to keep searching.

StarrySkies · Oct 2, 2011

I'd consider more than salary. Do you want to be running around on the floor when you're older? Do you want to be considered a labor cost or a revenue generator? The provider status is much more pleasurable IMO.

That is exactly where I am heading I think. Also, I am thinking that the CNMs that have talked (a tiny bit) about salary with me are calculating how many hours that they work in a week, and dividing their salary on hourly wage. Frankly, as I work nights many times the CNM will be sleeping until delivery just as the OBs are. Are we counting sleeping time here? Probably.

StarrySkies · Oct 2, 2011

I had the same dilemma. If I went back to get my WHNP I would probably only make about $5 more an hr than I make now as an BSN RN also in CA. I can't justify a $45k loan for such a small pay raise. I really wanted to further my education so I'm currently in a MSN program with a focus on Public Health -still will open more doors but at 1/2 the price.

From what I can see even Public Health RNs make more than I do in a hospital. It seems like a good field with a lot of autonomy and opportunity to really help people.

Advanced Practice Columnist / Guide · Oct 2, 2011

Thank you. I have actually been looking at UCSF trying to find salary figures, but have been unsuccessful. I am going to keep searching.

Here's a link: http://ucsfhr.ucsf.edu/index.php/staffing/tpp_detail/. NP's at UCSF typically start at either the title Nurse Practitioner II (if union) or Clinical Nurse V (if non-union). I'm not sure where Nurse Educators fall under but I suspect they are either Clinical Nurse IV or maybe even V. The "steps" correspond to the years of total nursing experience. For a nurse practitioner, it is the cumulative years working in nursing from RN level to NP level as opposed to just counting the years of NP experience alone. You advance a step as you gain more years of experience.

Advanced Practice Columnist / Guide · Oct 3, 2011

For UCSD: http://hr.ucsd.edu/tpp/index.aspx

For UC Davis: http://www.hr.ucdavis.edu/Salaryscales

For UC Irvine: http://datawarehouse.uci.edu/HRTitlePay/main.jsp

...couldn't find UCLA's

StarrySkies · Oct 6, 2011

Here's a link: http://ucsfhr.ucsf.edu/index.php/staffing/tpp_detail/. NP's at UCSF typically start at either the title Nurse Practitioner II (if union) or Clinical Nurse V (if non-union). I'm not sure where Nurse Educators fall under but I suspect they are either Clinical Nurse IV or maybe even V. The "steps" correspond to the years of total nursing experience. For a nurse practitioner, it is the cumulative years working in nursing from RN level to NP level as opposed to just counting the years of NP experience alone. You advance a step as you gain more years of experience.

Thank you so much! :tku:

freeasabird · Nov 1, 2014

I agree!I decided to return for my Master's after getting injured at work. You never think its going to happen to you but bedside nursing is hard on your body and it's better to have a way out before you are forced to look at less physically demanding areas.

freeasabird · Nov 2, 2014

I'd consider more than salary. Do you want to be running around on the floor when you're older? Do you want to be considered a labor cost or a revenue generator? The provider status is much more pleasurable IMO.

I agree!I decided to return for my Master's after getting injured at work and I'm in my mid 30s. You never think its going to happen to you but bedside nursing is hard on your body and it's better to have a way out before you need it.