I am a relative new NP (10 months), and my transition from being a floor nurse to an NP has been wonderful. I see 18-20 patients a day, my environment is low stress, and my pay has significantly increased ($35/hr to $53/hr with up to 10% yearly bonus). I work 3 ten hours days and have 2 four day weekends a month. I do have weekend and holiday commitment, but I am not working a day night rotation and no overnights. I get a mandatory 1 hour lunch break, and do not run around like a chicken with my head cut off. Also, I work alone and do enjoy the autonomy. Yes, I do have more responsibility, but my stress and anxiety level has significantly decreased since my floor nursing days. I use to dread every shift as an RN, and had anxiety attacks while headed to work when I was an ED nurse. I feel I am being payed for my knowledge, respected by the patients, and valued by my employer (since I bill and bring in income). I remember the nights of battling incontinent dementia patients (and the bed facilitator who wanted to load us up with them with no regard to staffing), cursed out by drunks, tortured by pain seekers who were on the call bell every hour on the hour, and not valued by the hospital. For ME, it was a no brainer to continue my education and become an NP as I realized hospital/floor/ED/unit nursing was not my cup of tea.
