Salary and Negotiation

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I know this has been a thread before, but let's have an updated conversation now that we are in 2017. I am posting this as I am a soon-to-graduate NP student and because I am a female. Nursing is still a female-dominated profession and I would like to empower other NPs (both male and female) to better negotiate and claim their professional worth. I believe one way to do this is by sharing information. Lets do this!

City/State:

Years in current position:

Salary:

Benefits:

Bonus:

Negotiation tips?!

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

City/State: Illinois, specialty practice

Years in current position:10.5

Salary: >100k

Benefits: free healthcare insurance for myself, 8 weeks PTO/year, 1/8th of my salary as employer paid retirement

Bonus: small xmas bonus

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

Please include specialty!

City/State: Outside Washington DC

Years in current position: 5-psych

Salary: $185,000 base but I work weekends, holidays and part-time elsewhere for a higher rate and gross >$200,000 year

Benefits: health, PTO, CEUs

Bonus: premium for weekends/call and at 2 positions I bill per encounter

1. Know your areas rates. Seriously find those few rock star NPs and become their new BFF. If you don't have NPs in the area that you worked with, were precepted by or know through your state's NP organization get on it before you graduate and find some! I can't emphasize this enough. The support both salary, knowledge and opportunities you can gain from having friends in the biz is non negotiable.

2. Use your professional contacts to find work especially places you did clinicals and physicians who liked you as a nurse because they are usually able to push for a hire and good wages.

3. Do an honest assessment of your abilities. If you are a new NP who was a killer RN with major professional contacts and experience in the specialty demand a top tier rate especially if you know they will not offer an orientation. If they do offer an orientation price it out before accepting a date with the devil that will haunt your ability to increase in wages once you get up to speed and start making money for the practice. Do not let some dolt in HR or a ED make you feel as if you aren't work a decent wage especially based on your lack of experience. I informed one who was attempting to low ball me at my first job that I'd imagine they wouldn't be billing less for me as a new grad-got the job btw but the medical director there wanted me so probably not an across the board best practice, lol. If you will be weak initially, sorry no more holistic way to put it, look for the places that are willing to coddle you-NP run practices or with a MD who is a control freak and wants to train you their way, provided they are a decent doc or you will learn to be a crap NP in their image.

4. Be aware of and prepared to assimilate into the culture before accepting a job. If the physicians are total workhorses who do call, evenings, weekends etc. without whining please don't go in expecting Mommy friendly hours and a day off every week because little Susie has an earache. Seriously if you want that kind of environment, they are out there, find it but don't go in and make NPs look lame in a culture that is not well suited to your needs.

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

Salary: >100k

Can't you do a little better than this for us? I make >100,000 too but that doesn't give a clear picture. :)

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location secret lol since there arent many NPs that go bak to med school but i will tell you its out west.

salary at first job. 165k

now 115k (if i worked full time)

they replaced me after i quit to go back to school and paid the next person 125k because you know supply is way higher now. already seeing salaries divebomb in certain areas. but then again my replacement was female too so for all you hardcore women's rights activists theres something to protest about. (even though its mostly bc women do not negotiate, not systemic sexism bc i started a little more than she did but i negotiated).

1st- hospital

2nd er

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Specializes in NICU.

City/State: Northwest

Years in position: 2 years as NNP

Salary: $118k, OT paid at $100 per hour (in the southwest, I was paid $95k starting as a new grad with OT at $72 per hour)

Benefits: Healthcare, dental, STD, LTD, etc. 5 weeks PTO, up to 7 weeks depending on years of service. Retirement match up to 7% depending on years of service

Bonus: None

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Oh alright Jules:

Specialty: nephrology

Salary: $120k

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Specializes in Vascular Neurology and Neurocritical Care.

City/State: PA & NJ (we have multiple hospitals we go to)

Specialty: neurosurgery, neuro/critical care

Salary: 140,000 + % of billings (higher salary though because I'm the assistant director of the practice, with multiple neurologists, neurosurgeons, PAs, NPs, and psychologists)

Benefits: deferred since I've always paid my own insurance

Bonus: % of billings as mentioned above

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.
Oh alright Jules:

Specialty: nephrology

Salary: $120k

Awww thanks. :) Your retirement contribution and paid health benefits prop up your big picture nicely.

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

they replaced me after i quit to go back to school and paid the next person 125k because you know supply is way higher now. already seeing salaries divebomb in certain areas. but then again my replacement was female too so for all you hardcore women's rights activists theres something to protest about. (even though its mostly bc women do not negotiate, not systemic sexism bc i started a little more than she did but i negotiated).

Yeah the NP market saturation is happening here big time too. :(

I'm about as uppity of a chick as you are going to find but I have to agree that in many cases the gender wage disparity is self perpetuated or at the very least not challenged by our lack of negotiating chops. Trust me I attempt to protest it but them ******* turn on me like a pack of underpaid, self-righteous, poorly dressed rats.

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Thanks for getting this conversation started. I completely agree that the gender disparity is real and that it is self-perpetuated. Many friends who have already graduated simply took the salary offered to them and did not negotiate because they "just felt thankful to have their first NP job" and didn't want to rock the boat too much. They are shooting themselves in the foot I think. They are taking jobs that range from $85,000 to $90,000 in the Northeast.

Can anyone speak to the actual process of negotiating once a job offer is made? What language have people used that worked well?

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Specializes in Vascular Neurology and Neurocritical Care.

First you need to research what NPs make in your area. Having reports from salary.com or Bureau of Labor Statistics (even better) could be helpful, assuming they're offering less than they average. If they're offering more don't shoot yourself in the foot ������

To be honest, aside from this I am not sure you have much negotiating room since you are new and will require considerable training. I'm not saying to take a low ball offer. Hospitals may want to pay on a pay scale based on years of experience or extra certifications in which case you won't have much leverage.

Private practices is a different ballpark in which you - even as a new graduate- may have some wiggle room. It may be combo of salary and bonus or salary and percentage of billings or collections or totally RVU based.

Do yourself a favor and buy Carolyn Buppert's book 'nurse practitioners business practice guide'. I didn't quote the title exactly but it's something substantially similar and you should be able to pull it up easily on amazon. That book will explain things in a lot of detail, way better than a short post here.

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