Silicon Valley/Bay Area NP jobs/salaries

[NPOaftermidnight, MSN, RN, NP]

So I posted this on the California board bug hoping to reach a broader audience here!

My family is moving to the Menlo Park area next month for my husband’s job. I’m an FNP currently working in pediatrics but I have adult experience as well so I’m looking at a variety of positions. Specifically, Stanford (including the Children’s hospital), Kaiser, a handful of private practices... just wondering if anyone had any suggestions on good places to work as well as what I can expect salary-wise... I’ve heard a huge range so I’m not sure what to actually expect. Thanks for your time!

[Corey Narry, MSN, RN, NP]

Kaiser NP's are members of CNA, the nurses' union. They have a set salary schedule based on the current CNA contract. The salary is determined based on your years of experience as an NP. In the current contract for year 2020, an NPII with 1 year experience is started at $81.96/hr and can max out at $109.08/hr for one with 30 plus years experience. I don't believe Stanford NP's are unionized. That can make the salary less predictable and subject to employer and new hire negotiation. However, it shouldn't go too far from the range that Kaiser offers. Both are great places but I have more knowledge of Kaiser facilities and no knowledge whatsoever about Stanford.

[amalay, MSN, RN]

I heard that Kaiser is actually not hiring many NPs nowadays due to the CNA/union, and is moving in favor of PAs. The NPs at Children's Hospital Oakland (and also UCSF Benioff Mission Bay) also more recently unionized, and the contract is actually still up for negotiation. The county jobs pay on average $70-80/hr, but this may depend, I think when I used to work there I had about 3 years experience so was still pretty "new".

Dignity health may pay the least out of the "big 3" (Dignity, Kaiser, Sutter). Sutter only just recently started hiring NPs into their organization (on a mass scale, I believe there are a handful of veteran NPs that have been at Sutter for a LONG time but on average even the most "veteren" NPs at Sutter haven't been there for longer than 3-4 years).

[Corey Narry, MSN, RN, NP]

Kaiser does have only a few openings these days for NP's. They seem to be split on the PA-NP preference. Children's Hospital Oakland was acquired by UCSF in 2014. I would assume that their NP's automatically were integrated into the UC CNA contract during the change in ownership. The statewide UC Medical Centers have had a union contract since 2018 and it is in effect until 2022. There were "big" gains made in terms of NP salaries in that contract. UCSF has a few Peds jobs posted. As a public institution, their salaries are searchable online. However, commuting from Menlo Park to San Francisco can be intolerable but some people actually do it daily (thousands of apple, facebook, and google employees sure do). Oakland would be worse with the Bay Bridge situation. Sutter is an option as they have clinics in the Palo Alto area. Overall, I find the Bay Area can be a tough market for NP's.