TexasNP14

I worked as a bedside nurse for 10+ years before starting my NP career. The answer is yes I make more than I did as a bedside nurse, considered an hourly employee, and I work part time. If I fill in extra hours I continue to get paid hourly for that time.

Great i appreciate your response! Plan to talk to them about this concern soon. Good points

I agree with all of you. I graduated in the last 1.5 years and am pretty good at managing my time (definitely still have room for improvement but so much quicker than I used to be). But I just wonder if I'm seeing patients back to back on busy day, how can I do a thorough hx, assessment, write Rx, order labs in needed, and close my charts in that small time period. Plus I am in pediatrics so it isn't as easy as adult care when they cooperate:) If I work a full day I am charting during my lunch and not being paid for this. If I see 20-30 patients in a day I can close quite a few charts but definitely not give great care and close all of them. And most days I work part time, so I feel like I am always waiting for xray or lab to call me back with results and then managing care from home after work hours, even if it is just 15 min here and there. Plus I am only paid when I am seeing patients, so I still wouldn't be paid for staying later at work and finishing my charting. Thoughts on how to proceed or how to agree on this with the practice?

I work part time as a NP in a private practice and am paid hourly (not a salaried person). I only am paid for hours I am actually seeing patients, not lunchtime (even though I mainly chart), charting after or before patient hours (whether at home or work), or time outside of work reviewing lab results/calling patients/etc. If I work full day, I see can see up to 25-30 patients a day so I spend alot of time going patient to patient and have to use my own time to chart. I feel like I am doing alot more work than I am being paid for and just wanted others thoughts if this is normal or how to change? Is this legal? Please advise.

First of all congrats! We celebrated by going to Mexico, stayed at Excellence Playa Mujeres with some friends and it was amazing! Went for 5 days, all inclusive, adults only. I would say you could be "waited on" as much or as little as you wanted. Some of the others look like more work than I wanted, which was to lay by the pool and beach and relax with NO school books! haha

Houston has a lot more options than Austin which is oversaturated with NP's. I would be nervous about moving to Austin as a new grad, as most offices want experienced NP's and there are very few jobs to begin with.

Don't stress, everyone feels this way! You are there to learn. It took me the first 2 weeks or so of every semester to feel more comfortable and get my footing right.

Wow the pros sound pretty good to me. I guess the question would be if the no pedi patients and drive are a deal breaker for you. If not and you think you would enjoy this place and it would be a good learning environment then I think its a solid offer. Congrats on the offer!

I do like the school, we have not had to go to El Paso too many times. I think the FNP program have to go a few more than we do in PNP. I love the director of our program which was one of the reasons I went to UTEP over Texas Tech (accepted to both). They actually want to help you vs nursing school where they are weeding you out. The tuition is much cheaper than some other schools like UT. There are some other people on here who have done the FNP program and they might be able to answer more of the cons for the program, my program is a bit different now that we are getting into clinicals. Good luck applying and deciding!

I work in the hospital setting so only do 3-12 hour shifts. I just cut back to part time (2-12 hour shifts), but pick up an on call shift once or twice a month to help make up the pay cut, plus I do home health teaches for extra income. I plan to try to suck it up and do part time as long as I can. It might be hard, but it is hard to imagine not working and loosing that salary for my family. I am also trying to do it without student loans, so that is another reason. The last semester I will just have to see what happens with clinicals but will still try to work part time.

My program for PNP requires 2 years experience as a RN. Some do and some don't, so this is something you might need to check on for the schools you are interested in. No, a DNP is not required yet as originally planned. There are some DNP programs, most take 3 years full time or 4 years part time. My PNP program takes 2 years. I am working while in school, did first semester and a half still staying full time+. I just cut back to part time+, more to help plan our schedule at home than anything. I still work an extra on call shift every pay period when I can and do home health teaches on the side. I made enough money doing teaches the month of december to pay for my spring semester, so that was great! For now, I want to finish my NP and then if interested go back for DNP. At our orientation, they encouraged us to get our DNP down the line. I just had my first big break from school over christmas and am actually ready for school to start back on monday, I'm a little bored of sitting on the couch:)

A nurse I work with graduated in midwifery about a year ago. She is still working as a L&D nurse, mainly because of starting a family. Being a midwife and a new mom doesn't really go hand in hand for some.

Nurse Nikkii, I am in the dual certification program (or at least they are trying). If it does not go through I am doing primary care but am in the program with the acute care track people. I am just finishing my second semester with a 4.0. I worked full time up until a month ago when I cut back to part time. However I am still picking up a on call shift once a pay check (if able) so help make up the money I am missing. Plus I do home health teaches, so really I was working more than full time:) The school work was totally doable with working full time, at least until clinicals start, but for my family schedule to work out, we decided for me to cut back. The program is not bad at all. I really love the pedi director and instructors so far. Some of the classes are challenging, but I was still able to get a 4.0 while working full time. Besides orientation, we do not have to go back to the school until the second year starts for skills check off, etc.

Just emailed it to you:) Laurie

I am in the PNP program at UTEP, but was accepted to both Texas Tech and UTEP. I graduated from Texas Tech with a non-nursing Bachelor's degree years ago. I know both schools have great programs. Deciding factor for me was I was accepted to UTEP two weeks before TTU came through and UTEP started a semester earlier=graduating earlier. I don't think you can go wrong with either choice.