RN pay/life vs NP pay/life

MJC2118, APRN · Jan 5, 2018

No, I do not regret going back to school to become an NP. As an RN with 6 years experience, I was making $58,000 a year. I worked night shift, so that was with a differential. I now make $86,000. I live in the Midwest though, so pay is a little less compared to other places. I work in a specialty clinic and right now I see about 6 patients per day, but will work up to about 10-12 as I am new. I see patients 4 days per week, with 1 day to catch up on paper work and patient calls. This day is totally flexible and I can use it to run errands, for appointments, etc... I consider it my off day. I am usually out of the office anywhere between 3:00-4:30 just depending on how busy the day was and how fast I can document, as well as complexity of patients. As an RN, I worked 3-12 hour night shifts per week, and had tons of days off; however, even working 4-5 days per week, I feel as though I have tons of time in the evening to spend with family, etc. Having weekends and all holidays off is a nice perk as well. Having said that, don't let all of these factors be the sole decision-maker for you. Transitioning roles from a nurse to provider, and expert to novice, is extremely difficult and humbling. There are a lot of new stressors you will experience being a provider, compared to when you are a nurse. Not to mention, student loans to pay back. You really have to WANT it, the role itself. Not just the perks that come with it.

TrueStarNP · Jan 6, 2018

My last RN job prior to working as an NP paid $33/hr prior to differentials. Started at 100 000 as a new NP for 5 days/week. I have better work-life balance and I am healthier as I no longer work at night. That being said as a new NP the weight of responsibility is higher and I obsess about my decisions about patient care more. I also check labs at home and email patients. However as I grow I will decrease these practices.

What I miss about being an RN was that I had a crew that I loved to work with. Also when you clocked out, and all went well on the shift, your responsibility was complete. I don't miss the lack of power that I felt to truly impact the patient, though.

Ultimately becoming an NP was valuable to me especially in a specialty. However there is some loss of privacy, as I have met patients at Target, Macys and in church.

djmatte, ADN, MSN, RN, NP · Jan 7, 2018

NP positions will generally have a better pay/work/life balance over bedside nursing. There are unicorns out there where you make about as much with an RN, but those are rare and typically some form of management. My wife for instance is the nurse manager for about 12 senior living communities and has about 14 nurses she looks after. She now and then she romanticizes about going back to bedside, but at 92k a year plus travel and an ADN, we know she'll never see that. Thankfully she's phenomenal at her job and can stay with that company anywhere my np degree takes us.

Trauma Columnist · Jan 7, 2018

As an RN with 12 years exp I was making $26/hour (2006). New grad APRN in 2006 $75k. Now, with almost 12 years APRN exp, I make significantly >100k.

However, I also have much more responsibility and the hours are sometimes brutal.

A&OxNone, MSN, RN · Jan 8, 2018

I've been an NP for about 3 months now. I make about 30k/year more as an NP, but I also work a lot more hours (usually about 50 hours a week) and as a previous person said, obsess a little about things when I'm home. BUT, I typically enjoy my work more and don't mind working. Its such a weird experience for me - I feel like my work/life balance is a little unbalanced right now, but also don't really mind it since I'm a new NP and feel like this is the time I SHOULD be working like this. Plus, my colleagues are also working hard so it makes it feel a little more reasonable it makes me feel like we are all into it together (unlike how I felt as a nurse, to be micromanaged and unappreciated by nursing management). This is the start to a weird journey for me, I will say!