NP working as RN

Specialties NP

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I have seen a number of NP's working as RN's on the floor at the hospital I work. One of them told me she did not like working as an NP because of the doctors, and another said she worked as an RN to suppliment her income. Is this normal everywhere? Just curious to know how many of you dont like working as NP's, or went back to the floor working as RN's after obtaining your NP license. Or just dont make enough to work strictly as NP's.

I work in a teaching hospital where continuing education is highly valued. I approximate that 3 out of 20 nurses is in a mastesr program or well on their way, yet when they graduate most of them still work as RN's. So what do you think of this?

You definitely have to look at the big picture. I make good money as a RN (80K with no overtime) but that is because I work float pool with no benefits (no vacation, no health insurance). In our float pool you have the ability to make over 95K without working overtime. But this is very hard work--physically and mentally. Not something I could do for the rest of my life.

I may be wrong, but "benefits" are not what leads me to a job, pay is.

Money can buy these benefits. I hear people all the time say their pay stinks but they get good benefits...benefits, benefits, benefits...people act like that is the driving force in whether or not they should work at one place or another. If you can make 95K a year with the right lifestyle you can sock enough away to have your own benefits if you play your cards right. This might mean you make 95K but live like you make 40K a year for awhile but what's wrong with that, when the return is much greater?

That might mean no wide screen plasma tv or regular $200 trips to Wal Mart but who needs that, anyway?

I understand how working agency can wear you down after awhile, but I still feel that the same principle applies. Don't be lead to a job because you are getting sometimes questionable benefits.

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I know several NP's working in the Houston area and they are making good money. One of them, an ANP, works in Pearland in occupational health. Her base salary is 92K and she gets quarterly bonuses. She has a company car and outstanding benefits. The urgent care clinics in Houston are paying $50 - $65 per hour and this averages out to over 100K per year. There was a job listing for a PA/NP to work in a pain management clinic in Sugarland and the pay was 160K per year. All I can say is that the NP's you know are being taken advantage of big time!

I used to live in Missouri City. My brother-in-law moved to another state but keeps his address in TX for income tax purposes (he is a multi-multi millionaire--something I doubt I'll ever have to worry about:rolleyes:)

I would think Houston would be a mecca for NP's, being one of the * world's* medical hubs.

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Specializes in critical care.

I think this thread is getting all off topic.

This is about personal choices. I can't tell someone else what choice is right for them. I am choosing FNP because I am tired of 12 hour shifts, tired of working holidays, tired of shift work. Simply, I am completely burned out of bedside nursing. Yes, as I have said, I make good money as a RN, but at what cost? My mental and physical health, that is the cost for me! Can I really do this when I am 50? Money isn't everything. I really have to consider my quality of life in the long-term.

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Specializes in Author/Business Coach.

I think my poor friend is getting taken advantage of. It just sounds like she works too much for nothing.

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I think my poor friend is getting taken advantage of. It just sounds like she works too much for nothing.

It's too bad your friend did not have access to a class in her NP program that taught her how to calculate her net worth (i.e. billing, overhead, etc.etc.) in a practice and then taught her how to play hard ball and negotiate. NPs coming out of our program are starting at 85-95K and then additional bonuses. RNs who are making 80K have worked in that profession for YEARS...they did not *start* out making that kind of money. And I would imagine they are capped out at what they make. There is very little opportunity for salary increases and job expansion.

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Not quite true, I make $72,000 base without lots of OT (8hrs a month) or holiday pay. I only have 2 1/2 yrs experience as a RN, 4 1/2 as a LPN. I don't see the point in going back to school for my FNP for a 10k raise. It's not worth all the responsibility to me. I just have to pull a couple overtime shifts a month and I would be well over that. I have a friend who is a FNP as well, she works incredibly too much without much pay considering she is salaried as well. :no:

Your friend needs to track down the details of how much $$ she is really bringing in and then play some hardball. She is allowing herself to be used and someone is really enjoying the extra profit.

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I can see this happening. Fortuntaley, there are no MEPN programs in Michigan.

Pardon my ignorance, but what is a MEPN?

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Specializes in ACNP-BC, Adult Critical Care, Cardiology.
Pardon my ignorance, but what is a MEPN?

Basically a Master's degree entry program for a nursing career. Some prepare non-nurses with a prior university degree (for instance a BS, BA, MS, or MA in other fields) to train as NP's. Programs are called different names in different states. It's a popluar option for those interested in a nurse practitioner career but are not currently practicing nurses. It is extensively discussed in many threads here in allnurses. Michigan nurse practitioner programs all require either an associate's (this applies to only a few programs) or a bachelor's degree in nursing in addition to a license as a Registered Nurse in the state.

My comment was not to cast judgement on whether these programs should operate or not. That issue has been extensively scrutinized in many threads. I was just commenting that core0 said that in Georgia, many MEPN grads have a hard time finding a job as a nurse practititoner and are thus, working as staff nurses. I think that if we do have a MEPN program here in Michigan, their graduates will have to compete with experienced nurses for NP positions and that they may lose the opportunity to the most experienced nurse. To stay employed, I can see this group working in a non-APN capacity.

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Specializes in Pulmonology/Critical Care, Internal Med.

I think its sad that a NP would go back to working as a RN. But maybe that is because I do not always enjoy the work as a bedside nurse. I personally do not enjoy cleaning up my patients, and turning them and bathing them. With two bachelors done and a masters degree on the way I almost feel like this is work that is "beneath" me. Don't get me wrong I know its part of the caring aspect of nursing and that it has all sorts of good medical benefits.

HOWEVER........I don't have to use my knowledge or skill. Things like trying to figure out if that patient is suffering from flash pulmonary edema or is about to plug off, or trying to figure out what is going on with that heart rhythm is what I got into this for. Not to mention I work a night baylor shift so I don't have a normal schedule or normal life. However for the chance to have a normal life in 2 years this is well worth it. To not have to worry about cleaning up poop if I don't want too, not having to work weekends (well I might here and there), and not worrying about jerky doctors.

For those NP's who are not making as much as a RN, thats just sad. I am in more of a position that I can move anywhere in the country. I have already made plans to leave AL as soon as I graduate and if that takes me out to Phoenix, AZ or up to Seattle, WA it doesn't matter. I'll go where I'll have a great job, working with a doctor who is willing to pay me what I believe I deserve, and willing to teach and guide me as needed so that I can become a great addition to his/her practice.

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I did a bridge program from B.A. to MSN and recieved my RN and ACNP. In TN, the pay rate for NPs is not much higher then RNs. Personally, I choose to be an RN b/c I love being by the bedside. I don't like clinic work where you are required to see 25-30 pts. a day and take call at night. Not to mention the fact that vacation time is usually two weeks out of the year. I enjoy working 3 days a week, traveling, and having less responsibility. I would recommend to any NP that if you are tired of bedside nursing, then try clinic work.

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

I became an APN to supplement my RN skills, not replace them. Yes, I do still (occasionally) help clean a patient and yes, I do help turning pts if I'm in the room and yes, I do help to pull a pt up in bed! These are tasks certainly not "beneath" me - they are things that need to be done in order for me to continue with my job.

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Specializes in ACNP-BC, Adult Critical Care, Cardiology.
I became an APN to supplement my RN skills, not replace them. Yes, I do still (occasionally) help clean a patient and yes, I do help turning pts if I'm in the room and yes, I do help to pull a pt up in bed! These are tasks certainly not "beneath" me - they are things that need to be done in order for me to continue with my job.

I completely agree with you on this one. Even though I'm practicing as a NP, I can still get the best of both worlds. I never hesitate and actually enjoy helping RN's when it comes to bedside stuff from turning or repositioning patients, setting up hemodynamic monitoring equipment and lines, drawing labs, starting IV's, checking blood products, the list goes on. Our nurses never ask us to do these, instead, many of us volunteer to help especially when we see that the nurses are overwhelmed. And we get a lot of appreciation and thanks for doing these stuff. One nice thing about being an APN's is that we know what RN's do, some of the PA's and the residents we work with have had little exposure to some of the technical aspects of ICU care like we did.

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