Realistic Facts About FNP in Northeast Ohio

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I'm a nurse with 8 years experience, in a variety of settings in Northeast Ohio. I always thought I would someday go back to school - but wanted to make sure I was POSITIVE about what I wanted to do, and I had enough experience to feel confident.

I've recently been feeling the pull to return to school.

Passionate about: Holistic health, integrative medicine, preventative care and helping people live their best life; entrepreneurship

Short term goal: FNP, building 1:1 relationship with patients, help manage primary/preventative care, gain experience, pay off debt (10ish years)

Long term goal: Work at/Own an integrative health clinic, part time hours, bring people back to living a healthy lifestyle (real food, mindset, addressing habits, physical activity), financial freedom (10+ years)

However, since hopping on this forum, holy moly I'm a little nervous... I had no idea until recently that there was an oversupply of NP's. I'm nervous about even getting that first job to gain experience and repay debt.

Someone give me some real hard facts about their job as an FNP (bonus points if you're in the Northeast Region)

I want to hear some PROS to this job - it can't ALL be negative these days.

And of course, let me know the CONS because we all know every career has them.

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8 hours ago, WellNurse83 said:

Passionate about: Holistic health, integrative medicine...

Long term goal: Work at/Own an integrative health clinic...

NPs are trained in Western medicine. So as long as by integrative medicine, you mean traditional, allopathic medicine + addressing the physical, emotional, mental, social, spiritual and environmental influences that affect health, and not "alternative medicine", or "complementary medicine", then by all means.

If you mean alternative medicine, NP is not for you.

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Most people that are willing to do the work of real food, exercise, etc are already doing it, usually without the help of a healthcare professional.

As an NP, you will mostly managing chronic diseases. You can advocate for exercise and fewer processed foods, but it will be a very small part of the job.

I am in Psych, but I have known some FNP's to do well with it, and others can't take the workload. Upto 20 pts a day.

Some NP's get a significant raise over their RN salary and some don't, considering the student loan.

Not sure what you mean by holistic health, but the FDA is rather particular about what we can legally prescribe

once again in my professional life, I am a Debbie Downer.

I would rather be that than a bullsh** Betty

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1 hour ago, Oldmahubbard said:

As an NP, you will mostly managing chronic diseases. You can advocate for exercise and fewer processed foods, but it will be a very small part of the job.

Lol crap aside from talking people off the ledge of benzos and Norco, advocating for fewer processed foods and exercise is the majority of my patients.

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20 hours ago, djmatte said:

Lol crap aside from talking people off the ledge of benzos and Norco, advocating for fewer processed foods and exercise is the majority of my patients.

No doubt, most of your patients need it, but it probably isn't the majority of your time.

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Specializes in NICU/Neonatal transport.

I lived in NE Ohio a few years ago - that's not the area I would anticipate a high-end holistic NP practice. It's an economically depressed area, overall.

I'm a hospital based practitioner, and my specialty typically is on the higher end of the pay scale, but I would not anticipate that being an easy business to get off the ground there. It is possible, I'm sure, but many self-owned businesses do not start becoming profitable at best for a couple years, and working in a practice group before that is going to be necessary. I think the average FNP around there makes 75-85k maybe? I've seen higher estimates online, but just in conversations had with colleagues, I don't think it actually ends up panning out that way for many people in a practice.

I would look for any existing clinics of that type in the area, and then see how they are doing, what their financial stability is, whether it is a place you feel you would be happy working, or whether it seems to be a viable business model.

Going to school for an NP with the idea to open a business isn't what I would automatically recommend - opening a business is very hard to do correctly and needs its own specialized education, but if you really want to do it, do the research, see what is possible, see if it is more possible in other areas if you are willing to move, and then make decisions with that information.

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On 3/4/2019 at 7:03 AM, LilPeanut said:

I think the average FNP around there makes 75-85k maybe? I've seen higher estimates online, but just in conversations had with colleagues, I don't think it actually ends up panning out that way for many people in a practice.

That's pretty low. Nurses with a few years experience can make that working some extra hours.

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Specializes in NICU/Neonatal transport.
2 hours ago, OBigdog26 said:

That's pretty low. Nurses with a few years experience can make that working some extra hours. 

Starting out? It's not far off. There's actually a fair amount of places where an experienced nurse who becomes a new NNP will have to take a pay cut when they start practicing. In Columbus, starting RN wages are 27/hour ish, at least at the children's hospital. That's over 50k and the cost of living is low there.

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Live in NE Ohio. Depends on where you end up as FNP. FP: 80-90k starting, Urgent Care 85-95k start, ED (nearly impossible to be hired here) 95-105k start. That’s about it from my experience. I’ve done ED now for 4 years (1 year in FP) and also got the ENP certification. I am around 150k/year. I bust my tail though and have seen up to 52pts in a shift. Typically, I see 24-30 in 12hrs. Good Luck.

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Can't thank you all enough for taking time out of your days to read and respond, especially in relation to what I'm interested in and my specific area. I talked with three NP's and have taken into consideration what was said here and NP is not for me. At least not right now.

Really appreciate your honesty! I was feeling "pumped" about going back to school and starting this new journey, but for now I'll just continue to pursue nursing blogging and entrepreneurship. In the future, I may just resume working as a diabetes education nurse, because that definitely fueled my fire. And apparently provided almost the same amount financially! lol

Thank you all again!!

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