ArmaniX

*Takes off “I’m a HERO” t-shirt* ?

The offer seems.. low for the area but I am not certain. As a new grad > 2 years ago I was offered 90K annual for a well known hospital in the south (ICU - lots of responsibility). Another new grad offer in Maryland (~105k, ICU). After a year I moved to the west coast and now make 200k (ICU). But much higher COL. Your experience, while annoyingly (kidding) superb, does not hold much weight in making you ‘worth’ a higher dollar (my opinion). I relocated for my past two jobs and it took a lot of work on my own to determine if the salary was appropriate for the area. Also consider what you will gain from that first job and how it will benefit you in potential future jobs. Don’t accept dirt offers, but understand right now you are a new fish in the pond. Also from experience it is very difficult to negotiate salary for hospital inpatient jobs. The more ‘famous/known’ a hospital the less they think they need to offer you to get you to sign.

Yes

You sound like someone who has absolutely no idea what they want. Which is fine. But, also not the ideal time to consider investing $$$ into a path you’re not certain you want to take. I would get some good psych experience before committing to PMHNP; pediatric patients attempting suicide, abused, depressed does not seem enjoyable to me for a daily encounter so I’d be very sure before committing to this path. I also am not a PMHNP but I do not believe they have a role in the ED. Patients coming through the ED are seen by an MD/FNP/AGACNP and triaged accordingly and sent to whichever service appropriate, possibly the psych unit. Adrenaline junkie and psych unit.... again no experience but I feel the absolute absence of adrenaline inducing events would be the goal. Consider trauma/critical care/ED. Also consider a life full of adrenaline and high pressure events at work for 40+ hours each week... is this your idea of enjoyment when you’re aged? The desire to be in charge is... a desire. The RN answers to the Provider. The NP answers to the MD/admin. Do you want the life/death decision and potential fallout/liability to fall on your shoulders as the NP or do you want to be the RN that can rely on their provider when things get tough? Adrenaline inducing events often include risky procedures/decisions and they have consequences. I want to say money should not matter but we are all adults. I will say think clearly before letting a $ sign excite you. You should have 100% certainty which path you want to take. You should research local job opportunities and what is available. California is not the easiest place to find a job as a new grad but location may give varying results. Good luck in path and just know that it is absolutely OK to remain a RN. Not everyone needs or should be a NP.

Do not pay for a colleges name. Find the cheaper options.

Know your worth and know your bottom line. Perhaps you could’ve entertained the idea for negotiation if only to detail why you deserve a pay in the range you wanted.

Do you want to continue working in the hospital? Consider acute care cert. The pandemic has slowed hiring in a lot of areas. But ignoring that. Perhaps the areas you’re searching or willing to work are the problem and you need to simply expand this search. I do feel your FNP in the hospital role is limiting your options as a lot of facilities are not hiring FNP in the acute care setting, or such is rumored.

Pure speculation but I feel you would be fine to continue working in the peds pulm clinic with your acute care certification. I am an adult acute care NP and while I practice in the ICU. If I ever made the choice to specialize and just do adult pulmonary or even burns, I would be fine. That would include seeing patients in the inpatient and outpatient setting. Perhaps the caveat would be that I am working as a specialist (pulm, burns, neurology)... to manage the care for those special conditions. I do not manage the patients HTN or diabetes etc, that would be a skill for their primary care physician/NP.

Just play your cards right and balance it. Would be unfortunate to leave one job offering you RN pay for another job that may find they don’t need / can’t afford you in a month when income is down and then you’re just .. unemployed.

I only list the important stuff. Armani MSN CRNP AGACNP-BC Honor Roll Student (2nd grade).

Anyone here do the ANCC field testing of new test questions? Just looking for experiences, seems worth it for the 15 continuing ed hours.

I paid out of pocket as I worked and went to school. Graduated with no college debt. Was the right choice for me as I do not really care to have to be “tied” to a job in order to get/fulfill reimbursement rules.

Solid organ transplants. Free, on the black market.

Started directly in an ICU with 3 month orientation. Certifications, experience (RN) all very much do have weight as a new grad NP. Your timing is unfortunate (pandemic), but I would consider casting a wider net. I graduated in Florida and moved 1000 miles for that first job. It was not ideal but a very reputable organization and great orientation. After a year I was able to secure a job in a location I wanted... another 3000 mile drive. I knew as a new graduate I wanted to be in an ICU in a teaching/trauma 1/academic center. My desires made my options of available jobs smaller and smaller, hence I opened up my search to the entire US.

Start by looking at your local colleges and programs they offer. Then do some research. These questions are what commonly get asked by individuals with no idea what they want to do but have the feeling they need to do “something”. There are plenty of threads on this topic that already exist on this site.

People are only interested in what benefits them, that’s how it works and you should ride the train. You must have heard the countless stories of individuals being let go after devoting years of their lives to a company. COVID19 has really halted the industry. If you have a job, now is not the time to be reckless or switching things up. If you’re looking for a job - cast a WIDE net. You need NP experience, not more RN experience with “hopes” of it leading to a NP position. One to two years getting solid experience is worth the one/two years of not being near “hobbies”. Many places are on a hiring freeze, cutting hours, letting employees go. It is not the time to be picky, unless you’re willing to wait out for an extended period of time. No one knows how big of an impact this pandemic will cause in the upcoming months and further.

Many initial statistics were estimates of what the US could see. Social distancing, sheltering in place etc were introduced and we have seen those effects. To simply say “look our numbers are low, let’s go back to normal” is narrow sighted and does not consider that perhaps these low numbers and lack of a surge in particular areas are all thanks to the current SIP/SD.

Just make sure your orientation is not cut short due to the pandemic. I’m sure many classes will be cancelled, no in person 12-lead courses is one example I could imagine. Good luck!

Mine expired during the initial renewal period, even though I had the CEUs. I chose not to pay the renewal fee because it no longer served me a purpose. The first four years it got me a raise, got me into grad school, and fulfilled a personal goal. It holds little merit once you obtain an advanced degree. In my opinion.

He might be a little busy.

My bad, I was certain they were applying for a new RN position since they didn’t feel they had a high enough acuity in their current ICU. Applying for grad school is another event.

EducatioN: college degree, year achieved. Boom. I’m not a hiring manager but frankly I wouldn’t care if you ran track and got an award. Irrelevant to patient care in an icu. Once I had a year or two of RN work, I started weeding out the irrelevant prior work experience. As a new grad I included my two years as a PCT and I included my years at Disney, highlighting my customer service/leadership experience. When 1 year new grad and applying for icu, I left off the Disney. When I applied for an NP new grad I highlighted my years as RN and roles performed. The further you move out from graduation the less it matters what you did in high school or college. Unless you have a GPA worth bragging about don’t include it, I never have as it really is a meaningless number. My opinion, I know others will differ greatly. As far as the 5 year plan. Mention how you want to grow within the company, such as eventual preceptor, charge, committees (which hopefully are truthful). It is OK to mention that eventually you want to look into graduate school once you have additional experience.

Surprise. He is the author of the website.

99% ... with statistics like that, no need for further debate!

Did you try grabbing him by the ear and dragging him to the room? ... kidding.