NP salary - Sacramento

[JanieJ-ICU]

I have been looking at the CNA (California Nurses Association) contracts at both UC Davis and Kaiser in Sacramento, CA and they show NP salaries for Level I NP I's at a rate that is much, much higher than the average listed on the various salary sites. Does anybody have any idea why this is? For example, UC Davis contract has level 1 NP I at $61.67/hr. At a regular 40 hour week this is $128,273/yr. Kaiser's contract shows that same level NP at $74.94/hr, which is $155,875.

But the salary sites say the average NP salary in Sacramento is $118,000 per year. Does anybody have any ideas regarding the discrepancy? I'm looking right at the nursing contracts, and I've confirmed the numbers with their nursing recruiters, so this isn't anecdotal data. Plus these are the "old" contracts - both are in the process of getting renogiated to an assumably higher level.

The reason I care about this is because I'm trying to decide whether to pursue anesthesia school or NP school. I get that CRNA's make a lot, but I want to make sure that I'm dealing with real numbers when I do my comparison. Thanks for any insight you can provide.

[shibaowner, MSN, RN, NP]

The average salaries can be misleadingly low because they include part-time NPs. Also, some employers pay crappy, and those are averaged in, too. However, if all you care about is money, the CRNAs make the most money by far.

[JanieJ-ICU]

Thanks for the input. I wouldn't say that "all I care about is the money" but it is definitely part of the package that is being considered. It's a huge decision either way, and knowing as much as I can about both options is really important.