aok7

I think it depends on your career goals.  I started in nursing home/SNF and learned SO much related to flexibility, interaction, and maintaining high standards in often counterproductive set-up.  I happened to work in a nice setting where I met mentors and wonderful patients and families, it was a good experience.  I went from LPN to ADN to BSN and each step I wanted to increase acuity/experience.  I found in the hospital setting a clarity that nurses who were there as their career goal to be floor nurse or the like were some of the most unhappy people I have ever met.  This was MY view, so unfair broadly, but truly a lot of anger and disdain for the hospital system.  Clearly 12h 3 day shifts was the motivation.  My target was to become a NP, and even when I was interviewing and promoting my early days in outpatient I found MDs more impressed with my hospital work, and how "nice" my time in LTC/SNF/hospice.  I actually do not think I would have gotten the job I have without the high acuity level 1 trauma LOL experience.  Reality, it's the place I learned and developed the least, there are 20 people listening to same same lungs in a period of 12 hours if you know what I mean.  If I were to have stayed RN role I would definitely get out of the hospital and work in a..not facility, but hospice or home health or the like outpatient.  

I am wondering about the specialty, how are you feeling about surgery in the setting of FNP preparation?
As a new grad in Seattle I earned about $135K including incentive with 4 weeks PTO, $2K education, all license payment, on-call pay about 3-4 days per month, and quite flexible schedule, but for outcomes I worked about 50 hours/week.  Plus a lot of self-study as a new grad LOL.
I actually have quite a pay cut by choice in my current job.  It is my specialty of strength and choice.  Cost of living provides a similar financial outcome, and vacation about the same, which is most important to me.