steffyh

Hey peeps! It's been a while, but as a 6 year NP, I'm looking into some side hustle gigs. I've been combing through the web for remote gigs, contract work, etc- anyone got anything good that pays well? I work 3 12-hr shifts and NEVER take work home, so on my free time I'd like to earn some extra $$.

It depends on where you live. To start you should get an idea what a RN with similar years of experience is making, then go up from there. I am a FNP w/ 3 years experience and interviewed at an UC center in norther VA and they offered me $45/hr... um... NO! They were offering their night RNs that! So no... I was told by the HR rep they don't pay the other NPs what I was asking which is at minimum $60/hr, but 1st that's the other NPs' problem to take so little $$, and 2nd, they wanted me to run this UC by myself, see 20-30 pts/day, do Xrays, I&Ds, suturing, splinting, and EKGs... for $45/hr?!! I work at MinuteClinic and make $55-58/hr to pick my nose... I also have a per diem gig that pays $100/assessment and do anywhere from 5-8/day once/wk and might take a job getting paid $200/assessment to do in-home weight loss... so the short of it is know your value and fight for what you want. If we don't collectively ask for more $$ these companies are going to pay us like crap. AND when you think of it, they're hiring more NPs than MDs and PAs b/c we're cheaper so again, ask for more $$ because they need us. We don't need to make the same as a MD or PA, but we shouldn't be disgusted when we're given the numbers (salary). VALUE yourself and ask for more $$ always! When I'm going for a new gig or job, I stop the recruiters or HR in the middle of their talking points and say, "listen, I don't want to waste your time and I don't want you to waste mine, what does the position pay?" Once we get that out of the way, we can move on from there. Hopefully that helps some! Good luck!

I would totally love to do this! I think this is the next wave of innovation in medicine and think there's a market for it- why have sick people leave their home? Doctors use to do home visits and while some are starting to do that again, I think technology has solved that for those of us who would love to do home care in a variety of areas. This is perfect for families w/ young children who find child care difficult to come by and for patients w/ disabilities who find it difficult to leave their home for simple acute visits. I'm game- I would love more information!

My husband and I are likley moving to northern VA for a job opportunity for him. I can transfer the current jobs I have, but am wondering what the hourly pay is for a Family NP w/ 2+ years of experience working in a retail clinic? I'm asking for budgeting purposes. Oh I'm also coming from NH. Thank you!

So I just entered my 2nd trimester of pregnancy and am feeling good. My biggest frustration is having to ask people to wear a mask if they're sick or have a rash b/c of course they don't see any need. I actually had a women tell me "you're being too sensitive about this" after I told her I'm pregnant (she was presenting w/ a rash). I work in a retail clinic where 95% of my day is acute visits- I don't know what I'm dealing w/ until I do an exam or a test for flu, strep, etc. I'm vaccinated against the flu and do wear a mask myself when I'm doing pt exams, but despite signs on the sign-in kiosk that say, "IF YOU'RE SICK OR HAVE A RASH PLEASE WEAR A MASK" people don't. My biggest concern is exposure to something I'm potentially not immune to such as 5th disease (am getting labs to check), and being exposed to something that's going to make me and/or baby really sick or worse despite all of my best efforts. Other pregnant NPs out there w/ advice?

If you don't mind, how much is the compensation (you can PM me if you don't want to post it here). Also, do they give you any training to do the talks and do they make the slides? How do you handle any questions that may come up about the drug if you don't know the answer? Thank you!

I absolutely LOVE working for CVS. I'm not sure what websites say they don't approve vacation time, but that's not true, at least for the MC. Every day I've ever requested has been approved, except for 1 d/t another NP getting married and leaving too many holes in the schedule for the market- so that's understandable and the day I was requesting wasn't important b/c I just wanted it off randomly to eat up my earned time. I have never had to clean a bathroom and nor do the other NPs I've spoken with. My bosses are great and will work with you. As for the schedule they really want you to do the whole shift 8AM-7PM (weekends are 9-5:30 and 10-5:30 Sat and Sun respectively), but on the flip side I work 3 days one week, then 4 the next and have it worked out w/ my clinic partner that we do every other 3 day weekends and during the rest of the week we each work every other day- you can arrange your schedule as you and your clinic partner see fit just as long as the clinic is covered. I hope that helps. Thank you for your kind words, I'm glad this is helping other NPs in the same boat I was in. Good luck!

I'm starting this weekend w/ virtual (online) training, but as w/ any new job you get some nervous jitters until you're out on your own. I've already contacted another NP who works w/ the company (paired up by my manager) to do a mentor ride along before I'm out and on my own, just to ask some questions and see the flow. I don't need to do it, but I just want to have someone as my colleague I can turn to if I need it. I would apply for the position ASAP. They posted positions in my state and they were eaten up fast. It's no secret (or maybe it is) that this job pays well (almost double my hourly rate per assessment, then there's an hourly rate you get when you're not seeing patients, and you also get milage which is $0.57/mile). So for me if I see aboutr 7-8 patients/day I'll earn about $200-300 more/day than I do w/ my FT gig. This will be a nice extra income for straighforward work and very little take home. I'm excited and will keep you posted. Feel free to PM me too!

Strange it opened for me, but go to the nytimes.com site > health > well. You should be able to find "An Uber for Doctor Housecalls." Hopefully that works! :)

At work my day can vary from busy to slow, so on my slow days I take it upon myself to get up to date w/ what's going on in the medical community. I go to Medscape, the CDC, NYTimes Health page, and the Washington Post. Yesterday I stumbled upon this piece: http://mri1exmbpw1p/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/05/05/an-uber-for-doctor-housecalls/?ref=health%26_r=0 I think it's a great idea, but all I kept reading was "doctors..." Any NPs out there who know of any positions doing this? Might be another interesting venture for those looking for some extra work on the side...

Many times! I worked pediatrics and saved 3 kids because of it (I hate saying that too b/c I don't want the credit for it b/c it was my job). I use to be a clinical instructor and remember telling my students to listen to that gut feeling. It's always better to be wrong than to have been right and never act on it. I really wish I knew what it was b/c each time I never had any objective info and never even knew the pts when I had that feeling. When in doubt, go with your gut!

When I did sub school nursing, I swear an announcement was made the day before b/c I would be so busy with kids. I subbed in various schools across my town and there was no difference b/w the elementary, middle, or high schoolers. After my first few months, I was able to quickly learn that most of these kids needed TLC or a breather so I'd do what I could, gave them reassurance, and sent them back to class. For the ones who liked to fake (and think I was too stupid to know they were), I made them go back to class, get their coursework, bring it back to my office, and do it while they waited for their parents. That quickly got across the schools that I wasn't the sub who was a sucker and wasn't going to let them use my office as a way to cut class. If they grumbled, I would ask them if they needed help and help them out, which was what some of them needed, but were to embarrassed to ask. Overall, the fakers learned that the nurse's office and the classroom were no different in terms of school work. I felt like part of my mission was to support the teacher in their efforts since they're balls-to-the-wall with all of this going on in the classroom. It was a tough, but fun job. I give the school nurses credit. It's not easy with the way kids are raised today.

I took AANP b/c it was more clinical-based vs ANCC which will have more pics and research-related questions. I don't mind pics, but not the research-related questions. Plus since I would be practicing I felt like it made more sense to study for the more clinical-heavy exam. When studying, I would also HIGHLY recommend Fitzgerald and NO ONE ELSE. She has the best review and her instructors help to write the questions that go on these exams so it's nice to learn from the people contributing to the actual exam than some other company.

You'll be happy to know you're not bailing me out b/c I can afford my payments. Good luck getting that fine print BTW. I did read mine, but as soon as I signed the dotted line, I got a "Change in loan terms." It's common practice, you should check into it.

I was trying to reply to someone else who clearly has their head somewhere else... clearly they're not aware of what's going on.