Thinking of going the FNP route

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Hi, I just recently graduated from nursing school with my bsn. I am looking to become a family nurse practitioner. Within 1-3 years of working as a rn. I want to know realisticly is the nurse practitioner route worth it? I am looking for more autonomy, a higher level of education, without having go to med school :up:. For those of you who are a nurse practitioner, do you enjoy it, are you happy you made the decision to become a nurse practitioner, and do you feel you are compensated in salary/ hourly fairly for your work?

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like i tell everybody else, i am glad I made the decision but if i was now in nursing school I would take a different route. Everybody is going back to get their MSN for the same reasons you state, and in a few years the market will probably be as dim for new FNP than it is now for lawyers.

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Move to student NPforum

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Specializes in Cardiac, Home Health, Primary Care.

I am glad I went back though I only graduated in December. I do feel that I am compensated pretty well and many clinics allow you to earn bonus $$$ depending on your productivity which I think is only fair.

As PP mentioned: there are MANY going back right now. I think I JUST beat the huge glut of FNP's coming in upcoming years. Whether it is worth it, how much better the pay is, etc. depends on your area.

I love the autonomy. I love calling the shots instead of following the orders. I am still actively learning to better understand how to manage diseases to provide the best outcome. I really really am enjoying it. I'd still probably go back now even if I was just graduating but my area still needs NP's (I am in a semi-rural area).

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Specializes in Adult Internal Medicine.
Hi, I just recently graduated from nursing school with my bsn. I am looking to become a family nurse practitioner. Within 1-3 years of working as a rn. I want to know realisticly is the nurse practitioner route worth it? I am looking for more autonomy, a higher level of education, without having go to med school :up:. For those of you who are a nurse practitioner, do you enjoy it, are you happy you made the decision to become a nurse practitioner, and do you feel you are compensated in salary/ hourly fairly for your work?

Lots of threads on this exact topic, take a look around and you will find a lot of information.

Long story short:

1. Only you can decide if it's "worth it".

2. If you want to work in a provider role (higher autonomy and education) than you will need to go NP, PA, or MD/DO or find a niche RN role.

3. NP salary averages more than 100k/year now. Whether that is fair is debated. Don't do it for the money.

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