Nurse Practitioner v. SLP

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I am looking for some advice from my fellow nursing colleagues and practitioners. I've recently been accepted to a local nurse practitioner program. Since the start of my nursing career, becoming a practitioner has been my "end game", but now that I'm facing the decision of acquiring a pretty large sum of debt for a graduate degree I'm having some concerns.

1) It seems like everyone I know in nursing is applying for or attending a nurse practitioner program. I am worried that the market is becoming saturated. From what I gather on job searches in my area, there is no shortage of FNP jobs, but I worry about the quality of these positions.

2) In light of what I mentioned above, I feel like one of the perks of working toward a graduate degree would be better pay, greater autonomy, and better hours. If I do this I'd like to know that I'm not looking at more night and weekend shifts. I've heard and read a lot about NPs working 60+ hrs a week. Does it seem like this is the standard or the exception?

With these concerns in mind, I started looking at other graduate degrees that I would be interested in. I stumbled upon speech pathology. The pay is less than the median FNP salary in my area, but not by much, and still significantly more than what I make now. It seems like there is a significant demand, and I would be guaranteed normal hours and no weekends or night shift. It is also an area that peaks my interest. However, I worked so hard to get my nursing degree, and I feel like leaving the field altogether may be a mistake, but ultimately I want a better work-life balance and a better salary. I know there are other options in nursing away from the bedside, but it seems like most of them are a pay cut or require significant experience. For those of you who have read this far- THANK YOU! If you could give me any advice regarding the nurse practitioner route it would be greatly appreciated, and if by chance there is anyone out there who has switched fields from nursing I'd love to hear your story

Thanks again everyone!

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