Stephgriffin6

Hi Melanie, To answer your question, yes PP hires New Grads and honestly I think they prefer New Grads. PP was my first job as a New Grad and I had no women's health experience at all. I think I had 50 hrs of clinical rotation in women's health and that it. My background was in telemetry in the hospital so not even L&D or postpartum. Yes, the training is 12 weeks and this with awesome being right out of school. I worked at PP in San Diego so I can only go by what I did there. I feel like the 12 weeks was very though. I feel like 6 weeks were at HR doing class room training and then the other 6 weeks was working with the Lead Clinician and seeing patients. You have to do so many skills for example IUC insertions before doing them on your own. But they train you on everything. The pay probably depends on what part of the country. But in CA you can expect to start at least at $58 an hour or more in CA. Not sure about the loan reimbursement but they do offer sign on bonuses for least desirable areas to work. But in CA you can make good money. If you have the opportunity and get offered a position I would take it at least to get your year in of experience. Hopes this helps!

Did you take the PP offer? I worked at PP in CA as a new NP and stayed for 3 years. I can answer questions for you if you like. Let me know.

Hi Kimmba, Yes, I did get both my RN and APRN endorsement from TX. It took a little over two months. I think I started in Sept 2021 like you, and then I got approved for the APRN license right before Thanksgiving at the end of November. I think I would have even gotten it sooner but my school incorrectly filled out the education form twice and then finally after the 3rd submission it was approved. I'm not sure why its taking over 7 months for yours to get approved as we started at the same time ! Are you checking online on the website under your account to make sure nothing is missing. Thats how I knew I had to have my school correct a form? Stephanie What state are you coming from? Stephanie

Hi, Did you go onto the AANPBC website? From what it says the 15 hrs of continuing education has to be on your areas of weakness that can be found on your score report. If you are a AANP member they have free CE on their website that you can do. I'm sure they cannot deny AANP CEs. I have already renewed my AANP certificate once and what I did to make sure all my CE are approved was to make sure all my CEs are approved by the following providers/sponsors ( See Below) This can be found under the AANPBC recertification handbook on their website: RecertificationHandbook Continuing Education Providers/ Sponsors: American Academy of Emergency Nurse Practitioners (AAENP)American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP)American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA)American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN)American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE)American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP)American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP)American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM)AmericanCollege of Physicians (ACP)American Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE)American Medical Association (AMA) in collaboration with the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME®) of accredited CME activities certified for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC)National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP)Nurse Practitioner Associates for Continuing Education (NPACE)Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health (NPWH)State Medical Associations, State Boards of Nursing, and State Boards of Pharmacy. This is says what you have to do if you fail: Q: What continuing education do I have to complete before I can retake an exam? A: A minimum of 15 hours of advanced practice continuing education from an accredited CE provider in the area(s) of weakness as indicated on their score report. Continuing education hours must be completed after the exam date which the candidate did not pass. A general NP certification examination review course is strongly recommended, but not required. Candidates should review the applicable Certification Examination Blueprint for content that describes each testing domain in detail. Hope this is helpful and good luck on your next exam, I know its challenging but you can do this! Stephanie FNP-C

Hi, Has anyone gone through the process of APRN endorsement from CA to TX ? From the directions it says you have to hold a current TX RN license or privilege to practice in TX to meet the qualifications ( which yes I get this). But can I apply for a TX RN and TX APRN license at the same time or do I have to get the TX RN first and then apply for the TX APRN. I cannot find this answer anywhere on the Texas Board of Nursing website. Thank you for the help!! Stephanie FNP-C

Hi, I do not work in the hospital setting but as long as you are board certified I would not think it matters. Any job that you apply will say you will need to be board certified but either ANCC or AANP, it never specifies one over the other. But I can tell what the difference is about the ANCC test vs the AANP test. The ANCC exam has ethics and nursing research questions included where the AANP exam does not. The AANP is only clinical scenario questions, no ethics or research. I chose the AANP certification for that reason, I really dislike ethics and research. Plus, I also didn't have to study ethics and research for the AANP exam...... LOL. Hope this helps a little!

DO NOT APPLY for your DEA until you are hired by a employer! You will have to give the address of your employer on the DEA application. You cannot just put your home address, it has to be a business address. The $731 dollars in NONREFUNDABLE. I made the mistake of doing this and they held on to my money. When I did end up getting a job I was able to get the money back to go towards my new application but it was a pain up the butt and I had to call to speak with a representative. Take my advice!! AANP and ANCC are national certifications so it does not matter which state you take it in. Good Luck! Plus get your employer to pay for your DEA, I did!

Hi, Currently, I'm a NP working at Planned Parenthood in San Diego with 3 years of experience under my belt with the company. I'm considering moving to Austin TX area. I know I would be taking pay cut moving out of CA but I wanted to ask if anyone in the Austin area has an idea what the Planned Parenthood pays its clinicians? Thank you in advance for the help, Stephanie NP

That makes sense, thank you!

Great, thank you for response!! Good to know Austin pays low! I’m also looking at areas north of Dallas and Houston so sounds like the pay is better. Texas seems to pay just a little less than CA.

Hello, I'm a NP in San Diego CA, with 2 years of experience. I'm looking at possibly relocating to Texas particularly the Austin area. I know my income would drop but I would like to know the average income for NPs in Texas. I realize there is no state tax in Texas but the property taxes are much higher than CA. Not sure if it would be worth making such a big move. Anyone from Texas have any thoughts or advice on this subject. Thank you for the help, Stephanie NP

Congrats Medsurge!!! Part time 4 days a week with a set schedule sounds great! That is so much more doable with having a young child. You can always keep checking the other affiliate for positions to work closer to home. I do not have my own Malpractice insurance since I’m covered under work. I did not even research it. I wouldn’t do it unless I was an independent contractor and had to, but that’s just me. My orientation was at the administration building mon-fri 5 days a week for 1 month and then I started in clinic with a clinician preceptor and I was on her schedule. Since I was hired at 5 days a week that’s what my schedule was with my preceptor. But I would just prepare for 5 days in the beginning. You could always just ask. Very happy for you and your new career !!!???? Stephanie

Hi Medsurge, Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving!! Okay, so I'm going to give you my honest opinion on traveling 2-3 hours a day, its going to be very hard and draining on you. Its very difficult to juggle being a mom and working, add extra travel each day and you will feel tired all the time. In my case i started working at PP 6 months ago when my daughter was 18 months. She is in daycare 5 days a week. My husband has to get her ready for the day, take her to daycare, and pick her up from daycare and watch her until I get home 5 days a week. My husband is self employed so he obviously has some flexibility, not to mention i chose a daycare that is 5 mins from his office. But i do get a guilt trip from him that he has to do so much and that I never spend time with my daughter. My home clinic is very close to where I live (about 15 mins) and I'm there most days of the week. I only flex probably 3 times a month, which is really not that bad, and the furthest I would have to travel is about 45 mins max (maybe an hour if heavy traffic). If I had to travel 1-1.5 hrs each way to work, I really don't know if I could actually do it with a family. Yes, its nice to get paid your time and mileage but that makes for a really long day. I get my schedule 4 weeks in advance so I can plan ahead. As the the on call shift. I have not started doing on call yet. But it is 1 time per month. I believe the hours are from 4 pm to 7 am. Many Clinicians do work the following day. If a patient calls it does not go straight to you, it goes to some sort on messaging service that can either transfer the call to you or you call back. I'm sure if you were driving you could take the call after reaching your destination. If you take the job, you should sit down with your husband and see what his expectation are with helping with your baby. If you take the job, see if in 6 months you can get a staff clinician position at 1 clinic near your home or work part time. Working at PP is so much better than working in the hospital but working more days in the week is challenging for family balance. Let me know you what you decide!! Stephanie

Hi Medsurge, So I would say every affiliate is different ! I live in San Diego and work for the pacific south west affiliate, and this affiliate is financially strong plus I’m sure the California wage is adjusted to the cost of living. As a new grad I was offered the baseline pay and then for every year of experience the pay goes up a dollar. I’ve already gotten a raise so almost at $60 which I think is great as a new grad. I did not negotiate pay but you could always ask it don’t think it would hurt anything. The worst they can say is no and take the offer they give you. I think you need to decide what area of medicine you want to work in. Many clinicians that worked in primary care said it was hard because you have to know a lot and it was too much. The nice thing about PP is that it’s pretty specific of what we can treat and for the most part patients are young and healthy and you are not going to have to manage chronic conditions. Patients will ask primary care questions but you cannot treat them based on the protocols. The visits are very repetitive but I don’t find anything that difficult after learning the basics. Also, case management calls all patients about results so you would not have to stay late to call patients. I can really only tell you what goes on in the pacific southwest affiliate but it may vary to the affiliates you are applying and how finically strong they are. Weigh out the pros and cons of each job before accepting a position! Stephanie

Hi Medsuge! Most positions are Flex Clinician positions( floater). You would have a home clinic and then be required to float 30 percent of the time. This has been the case for me. Floating is okay, just prepared to be working with different people, but I have not found it to be a problem. Each clinic is a little different in set up and flow but after going a few times it’s not that big of a deal. The nice thing is that you will get travel time pay and mileage pay, which is nice. I’ve gotten lots of over time and it has not been a problem. After training you will be prepared to float. You will get better with time. You will be busy but seeing 20-24 patients a day is doable along with the charting. Many visits are very quick such as STI testing no symptoms and HC visits. You will get faster as you go. You chart after each patient so you don’t stay late charting!!! Once orientation is complete I think the expectation is to see 18-21 patients. I would say the average I see is 20-21 patients per day but have seen up to 26 patients. It just depends on the shift you and flow. I would say 35 hrs per week sounds perfect, 40 hours is almost to much but I like the money. I would say 4 days would be perfect for full time. I work 5 days per week. Malpractice is covered !!! I’m excited for you, let me know if you have any other questions! Stephanie