NP Salaries Realistically and grades!

Specialties NP

Published

I was going to go into physical therapy then decided to go for a physicians assistant masters and decided nursing and becoming a NP was a safer route. I've been reading all I can and I honestly havent gotten many clear answers. First off realistically what is a nurse practitioner going to make, can anyone give me some examples not from a salary website? According to them a NP gets paid more but the average salary for a rn is like 45k and I know of a few people as an RN that make 35 an hour and I have read some forums people making 50. Of course this isnt the standard however there is obviously some great fluxuation in salaries. Salary isnt my only driving force however I dont want to go from being able to well over 100k with over time to 80k by getting 4 more years of schooling.

I tried looking at job listings but few offer a salary, so what can I expect to make 5-10 years down the road as a adult NP? Also what kinda of grades does it take to get in to a well known school. I assumed I would get my NP from university of pittsburgh. Again I have seen generic answers like you much have a 3.0 yadda yadda. Thats how Physical therapy was and people got turned down with a 3.6 and club memberships and all that.

It would really be helpful for someone to lend some insight thats been there done that, talked to people that got in or went through the experience theirselves.

Thanks so much.

Well I am in nursing school now, should graduate in may. I can't speak as a NP or a PA but I think I decided the right thing. It will take a little longer, but I would expect a NP to be a lot more skilled than a PA. Since I am a student nurse I am partial but it seems like nurses should have more than 2 years training. Nursing school is pretty intense, harder than any other schooling I have had. You start being in a medical setting from day 1 so you have a lot of experience in a hospital. You can get your bachelors in nursing online at a lot of places. The graduate programs you can even do online, or do part time. You can't make that decision what you want to do without the experience. If you know you like the medical field I think entering nursing was a good way to go. You build connections. By the time you hit gradschool you have a ton more experience than like a biology degree. Nursing school your going to probably have to spend minimum of twice as much time on the associates degree, but then you can work and make a decent wage in 2 years. I think I made the right decision. It took me about a year to feel confident with being in a hospital and dealing with patients. I just applied for an aid position to get some more experience.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

oh good for you :)! i really feel that i want to do nursing...i just get a lot of people pushing me to go ahead and apply PT or try my luck at PA school. the thing is that i feel that being a PT would leave me feeling unfulfilled medically and i dont know if i am ready for PA school...im going to stat volunteering here in the next few months so hopefully this will help me in my decision...good luck to ya!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I didn't know anything about nursing or really the medical field going in. I will tell you after my first day of clinical in the nursing home I was ready to quit. Just in nursing you can basically do anything but be a doctor. You can get a masters in anesthesia and make 200k a year. Work in an operating room, ER, doctors office, oncology, anything medical, pediatrics. I have gone through so many things I wouldn't have been able to get myself to do on my own if I didn't need to finish school. I would have quit on myself so many times if I didn't need to do it for school. So many unique experiences I couldn't have gotten any other way. Nursing isn't for everyone, I hate the school I am in. Despite that though I would highly reccomend nursing. Im in a night nursing program and it includes the summer so it only takes 1 1/2 years. Nurses get to do a lot of stuff, yeah some of its gross but I at least got over that pretty quick. Their assessment skills are probably better than most doctors. I was told to try and find a teaching hospital so the residents will teach the nurses the disease process and some of the medical management while the nurses teach them the assessment skills. A nice symbiotic relationship.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
I hate to say it but you are looking at just the $$$ of being a nurse. Are you an RN yet? In nursing school? Nursing is tough.

I think that as a nurse you have the ability to make a comfortable living, and being a career in demand you have the opportunity to increase your income by working overtime or per diem in other facilities. But more important (to me, anyway) is the working environment and doing what you enjoy. If you are going to be spending a major portion of your days working, let it be in an area where you are happy.

Just finishing nursing school and I am regretting it there are no jobs here. 2 years ago the nurse I did my preceptorship got a 4k sign on bonus and the hospital went to her. Now about 5 people out of my class of probably80 have a job. So yeah money is important I can't pay my rent on happiness. I don't want to be like a CRNA since I don't think I would like it, but I want to do something that pays well and I enjoy.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

NCARU hang in there. The job market for nurses has always been promoted as just booming ALL the time and the harsh reality is that there are cycles within the profession and sometimes hospitals hold on tight. Are you willing or able to move around a bit? The market isn't horrible everywhere and there are jobs...it's just going to take more work to get there and possibly more time.

could have graduated with an exercise science degree with 7 more classes, but I was discurraged with stories of people not getting into graduate school. I didn't really want to work in that field. I really enjoyed my biology classes

Be VERY glad you did not do this. New exercise phys. grads BARELY make 20K and that is even working in cardiac rehab and having a high level of responsibility.

Hang in there!! You'll find a good match soon.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ER, ICU, Education.
I agree, it depends on the location and the specialty. I am in a very remote and rural area and the starting salary for FNPs is in the 65-75K range, which comes to around $40/hour. This is no nights or weekends, no on call. To put this number in perspective the starting wage for an RN is around $20/hour.

BTW approx. $40/hr equals over $80K a year. So which is it?

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Girl I knew that graduated from the same school ex phys she started at 28k I think not fabulous but I could have finished gradschool as a pa and been graduating with a masters instead of a ADN.

For jlcole, I think you read that wrong she was saying a rn is 20 and fnp is 40. Though I have seen the salary for FNP's even lower than that, and starting nurses are around here are 21.5-22ish.

I am okay to move when my lease is up in december.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

^^^^^^^^

My wife makes 32/hr as a nurse when she works in the hospital not counting diffs and makes 75k/yr salary at her full time job right now in the south.

Good jobs are out there just not a dime a dozen.........one of our fears is as a NP she'll barely make anything more than she makes now.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I'm currently a hospital based NP in Texas and work 3 12hr shifts, no overtime, and bring in > $100K

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Most of my classmates are making 85K as new grads in M-F 9-5 jobs with no overtime, holidays or weekends + bonus options, etc.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
^^^^^^^^

My wife makes 32/hr as a nurse when she works in the hospital not counting diffs and makes 75k/yr salary at her full time job right now in the south.

Good jobs are out there just not a dime a dozen.........one of our fears is as a NP she'll barely make anything more than she makes now.

This is probably where she will cap out. And she will be forever working 12 hr shifts in the hospital on holidays.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.

This is a very interesting thread. I am an RN not an NP. I work in a combined CVICU / neuro / trauma unit of a large hospital (also do some medical transport for them) and I love it, love it, love it. I am very interested in becoming an NP but have been very discouraged by all the Mon-Fri 8 hour type jobs I seem to see out there for NPs. Many of those who have replied have stated that their jobs are days with no call. For me such hours would result in a huge decrease in quality of life, that's just me of course. Right now I work a weekend option program where I work 36 hours and get paid for 54 hours. My base pay is a little over $35 (this in central Wisconsin where cost of living is very low, about 4 years experience and an ADN) and with the weekend option I made a little over $107K last year working an average of 40 hours a week. While I fully understand that the schedule I work would not be considered desirable by many it's perfect for me.

My question is are their high adrenaline, odd shift type NP jobs out there? My main goal in becoming an NP would be for greater autonomy but I want to keep working with the patient population I do now, or a similar high acuity type of patient. Any suggestions out there for the type of NP program might suit me and or the type of NP job that might be suitable?

Thank in advance.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment