trackhead

New grad NP with 23 years ER, CCU, flight, paramedic background. $130k working ER/primary care, critical access. (Intermountain west-rural town) $3,000 CME plus five days paid time off 5 weeks PTO annually starting $50,000 loan repayment $10,000 sign-on

New grad here, just passed test today. 23 years working ED, CCU, flight, etc. Totally sick of all of that. I'm 49 yrs old. Got four job offers before I graduated. All in 120-130k range in either primary care or ED/primary care mix. Three of the offers had full tuition reimbursement up to $50,000. Yes, I made $60/hr as a flight nurse, but crashing planes and staying up all night sucks, as does flying covid patients all over the planet. Not sure what to tell you, yes, you will work hard, yes, you will likely take some of your work home with you. Yes, it's a ton of emotional effort to finish school, but I think it is worth it........I'd rather be an FNP at age 60 than a flight nurse or an ER nurse.

Is there any value in holding on to the CEN (Certified Emergency Nurse) credential as an NP student with 1 year left of school and 20+ years of flight/ER nursing in terms of getting a job? I'm not interested in working in the ER as an NP, and quite frankly, I think all these nursing certifications are a joke anyway. I'm keeping my CFRN because I still get reimbursed for it. But I feel no employer is going to care about some silly CEN certification, nor even know what it is. Thoughts?

Anecdotal, but I was speaking to our medical director of the flight company I work for. He has been a trauma attending for 10 years now, and he mentioned when he was first an attending, he always wanted to back up his medical decisions with another attending, but HE was the attending now. So even after med school and 4 years of EM residency, he still felt insecure. Something to consider.........

I have a kid in school, no PA school locally, and I don't want to pull my kid from his school and relocated. I'm not stirring a pot. I have worked with a bunch of awesome NP's over the years in the ED. Just curious......

Good to here, thx.

Let me preface this topic: Not trying to stir the PA vs NP pot, just asking questions. I have been in healthcare for 22 years working as a ground/flight medic, then ER/ICU/flight nursing. I got accepted into a MSN/FNP program (brick and mortar) that starts in the spring and I hope it produces a competent FNP in me. I considered PA school, but I don't want to move my family/kids (no PA program locally). Anyway, looking at the curriculum of PA vs NP and it makes me wish I was going to PA school. The curriculum is all patho/pharm/science classes compared to the FNP didactic. So my question for those of you who had similar backgrounds with a lot of prior experience as an RN, did you feel your FNP program prepared you for your job role? I realize it takes time to achieve, which is no different than when I was a new medic or RN. Just curious how the transition was for those with a fair bit of prior RN experience. Thanks in advance.

If you have a pulse, you potentially have a job in this industry, in my opinion.

I've spent the last two winters in AZ working ER, worked staff at Flag 12 years ago. Flagstaff always has inhouse seasonal positions, but pay is low, better off going through a travel agency. That said, FMC back then was a great place to work, at least ER and ICU, not sure about tele. Sedona has a little ER, but no inpatient beds. Also a fun place to work. VVMC is under the FMC umbrella, and was a great place to work way back when as well.

Did it for two years, just sold ours and moved into an apartment. Easier to live in cold climates in standard housing.......RV's kinda suck for that.

Billings?

I'm at Chandler ER and just extended another 13 weeks. Busy ER, but good staffing and nice place to work. Not sure about other parts of the hospital. I worked at Banner Boswell last year and really thought it was the worst ER I've ever worked in. Anyway, good luck.

We (wife, kid, me) lived in a 36' fifth wheel for two years for my travel work. Sold it last week and moved into an apartment. We now have a truck camper and a small utility trailer to move between assignments. We can live free between assignments in the truck camper, travel lighter than the fifth wheel, and enjoy assignments in cold climates without having to worry about trying to keep pipes from freezing in an RV. We enjoyed our time in the fifth wheel, but like Ned says, even if you pay cash for your RV, you still have to divide the total cost by how many months/years you plan to travel and add that to your monthly RV park fees to differentiate the cost of RV life versus apartments. For us, wanting to do winter assignments was the clincher, and the fact that I work every weekend and bail out away from humanity on our four days off in our truck camper.

The good side of this story is a motivated recruiter is better than a slow, unresponsive one. But like anything in life, there's a balance, and this guy is way beyond it.

It's a bit odd that you had an offer for one job from two companies. Turn one down gently? You're the boss, not the agency, that's how I look at that relationship. They need you more than you need them.