NPs more likely to be laid off than RNs?

[Joe NightingMale]

I was doing a clinical at the local PICU and the RN there said that several NPs on their team had been laid off. To the best of my knowledge this particular institution has not laid off RNs or instituted a hiring freeze. Though they have laid off some nurse managers.

So, are you therefore significantly more likely to be laid off as an NP? It would seem that a hospital could do without its NPs more easily than it could do without its floor RNs.

[istat]

The two major differences to remember is this. NP's bill for services, while clinical staff RN's are carried as overhead. And there is a greater man (or woman) power requirement for the bed side. A Practitioner can cover a lot more patients than the bedside nurse. So logically you will ned less.

I can tell you from past experience the few Practitioner that I've seen layed off were not out of work for any length of time (unless it was by choice).