Pros and Cons of becoming/being a Nurse Practioner

MwtM · Apr 24, 2014

Hello,

I am probably not the best person to answer your question, but I was intrigued by your background. I was a nurse aide before becoming an LPN, and finally, an RN. I just gained acceptance into Ohio State's FNP program. So, if anything, I respect the climb you've got ahead of you!

There are a myriad of Pros and Cons with regard to becoming a practitioner. Things to think about include what area you are going to practice in (specialty and location), your motivations toward becoming a mid-level, and what path are you going to take to get there.

In Southern Ohio where I live, NPs and PAs have a considerable amount of work. This is because the rural areas have seen a shortage in primary and community-based specialty care. In the cities, teaching hospitals have had to cut resident/intern physicians' hours in half over the last few years. It is much cheaper for those hospitals to hire a few NPs, rather than hire a couple of attendings to cover the shortage. The problem with this is that you run into salaried NPs and PAs working 50+ hour weeks.

The shame of becoming an NP is that nursing is such a broad field. We are everywhere and we can do anything as RNs. Unlike PAs, many of the NP specialties curtail you to working with a certain age-group (PNP, ANP) or in a certain setting (ACNP). So you have to think long and hard about what you want to do as a practitioner.

The benefits can range from a higher pay, more respect, a widened scope of practice, etc. The cons may mean that you could conceivably make the same amount of money per hour with a greater amount of responsibility. Certain states have very restrictive nurse practice acts which limit the NPs in their practices.

I could go on, but the main idea is that you must do a lot of research and have plenty of forethought in making this leap. I wish you the absolute best of luck!