Total Number of Nurse Practitioners Hits 325,000

[MentalKlarity]

According to latest AANP survey, the total number of nurse practitioners in the United States is now at 325,000.

Last year it was at 290,000 so it increased by 35,000 or 12% in one year.

There are approx. 9,000 physician assistant graduates per year.

There are approx. 33,000 physician graduates per year.

The number of new NPs annually is not only higher than other fields, but accelerating. In 2010, for example, there were only about 10,000 NP graduates a year.

Are we heading toward massive saturation of our own field?

[djmatte, ADN, MSN, RN, NP]

12 minutes ago, PsychNurse24 said:

Of course they take supply into consideration!

Except someone literally just pointed out how they aren’t. 

[umbdude, MSN, APRN]

There are more NPs (especially FNPs and AGPCNPs) than there are jobs in many areas. That's just reality. I'm surprised that people are arguing over this.

It's not really about feeling "entitled" to jobs, but nobody in their right mind would want their field to be saturated.

Why do you think people are flocking into psychiatry? (Certainly not because they suddenly discover their love of psych after spending 20 years in ICU or as FNP.) It's the money, benefits, and abundance of opportunities. Who doesn't want to have 10+ job offers lined up within a 30-min drive of their home and have their pick of the highest-paid job offers with the best benefits? Or even just the option of saying "screw you" when an employer gives a low-ball offer, because you're not worried about whether you'll have a job to make your next rental payment.

I'm all for being competitive. I worked in a highly competitive field before nursing, but it's also a field that rewards excellence (I.e. only folks with top GPAs, good schools, prestigious certs get the top-paying jobs). This isn't the case in nursing. Employers will hire any warm bodies with a prescription pad to fill scripts and pay them crap. Without saturation, these employers will have to budge; with saturation, someone will lower themselves to make a living.

[londonflo]

59 minutes ago, umbdude said:

I'm surprised that people are arguing over this.

I am not arguing this rather having a discussion. If you considered  this arguing go to your local bar this Friday. There you will see arguments that validate what a true argument is. 

59 minutes ago, umbdude said:

Why do you think people are flocking into psychiatry? (Certainly not because they suddenly discover their love of psych after spending 20 years in ICU or as FNP.) I

This is where I got off the NP train...found out my depression was related to thyroid levels and my B 12 being in the toilet. I knew about my thyroid but after labs results always had to go to the MD and  await telephone calls. I last saw the NP in January and  I said I want to make an appointment 2 days after my Thyroid  (and could you get the Vitamin D level that has been required for the last draw? She was sweet but had a hard time putting lab orders into the EMR. 

[CommunityRNBSN, BSN, RN]

All I know is what I see on the ground.  I look at job listings for psychiatric NPs, because that is what I'm in school for now.  In my state, people are desperate.  The job listings read like: "Do you have a PMHNP license?  Do you have a pulse?  You can set your own hours; sign on bonus; full-time, part-time, or per diem. Start date immediate."

[NurseBlaq]

1 minute ago, CommunityRNBSN said:

All I know is what I see on the ground.  I look at job listings for psychiatric NPs, because that is what I'm in school for now.  In my state, people are desperate.  The job listings read like: "Do you have a PMHNP license?  Do you have a pulse?  You can set your own hours; sign on bonus; full-time, part-time, or per diem. Start date immediate."

That bad huh? They're not even requiring you to be breathing. By all means, just have a pulse dammit! OK couldn't help myself. ?

[umbdude, MSN, APRN]

27 minutes ago, londonflo said:

I am not arguing this rather having a discussion. If you considered  this arguing go to your local bar this Friday. There you will see arguments that validate what a true argument is. 

My comment really wasn't directed at you.

13 minutes ago, CommunityRNBSN said:

All I know is what I see on the ground.  I look at job listings for psychiatric NPs, because that is what I'm in school for now.  In my state, people are desperate.  The job listings read like: "Do you have a PMHNP license?  Do you have a pulse?  You can set your own hours; sign on bonus; full-time, part-time, or per diem. Start date immediate."

What state are you in? I'm packing my bags. ?

[MentalKlarity, BSN, NP]

PMHNP numbers are getting bad too. There is now a predicted oversupply for PMHNPs as well. Even Walden has gotten in on the PMHNP game and annual graduates are skyrocketing. Will be saturated soon.

[CommunityRNBSN, BSN, RN]

2 hours ago, MentalKlarity said:

PMHNP numbers are getting bad too. There is now a predicted oversupply for PMHNPs as well. Even Walden has gotten in on the PMHNP game and annual graduates are skyrocketing. Will be saturated soon.

That  may well be true.  Anytime there's a perceived "shortage" and people start saying "That's where the money is"-- you can predict the diploma mills and others will try to get in on the action.

 

[PsychNurse24, BSN, RN]

3 hours ago, CommunityRNBSN said:

All I know is what I see on the ground.  I look at job listings for psychiatric NPs, because that is what I'm in school for now.  In my state, people are desperate.  The job listings read like: "Do you have a PMHNP license?  Do you have a pulse?  You can set your own hours; sign on bonus; full-time, part-time, or per diem. Start date immediate."

Agree!  High demand for All NPs in my area!

[umbdude, MSN, APRN]

3 hours ago, MentalKlarity said:

PMHNP numbers are getting bad too. There is now a predicted oversupply for PMHNPs as well. Even Walden has gotten in on the PMHNP game and annual graduates are skyrocketing. Will be saturated soon.

ANCC data- the number of ANCC-certified psych APRNs (includes CNS and phased out adult/ped PMHNPs) rose by ~68% in 4 years. 

Number of candidates taking the ANCC-PMHNP exam grew from 1,497 in 2016 to 4,114 in 2020 (4,377 in 2019).

It'd be interesting to see where this goes in the next few years.

[MentalKlarity, BSN, NP]

3 hours ago, umbdude said:

ANCC data- the number of ANCC-certified psych APRNs (includes CNS and phased out adult/ped PMHNPs) rose by ~68% in 4 years. 

Number of candidates taking the ANCC-PMHNP exam grew from 1,497 in 2016 to 4,114 in 2020 (4,377 in 2019).

It'd be interesting to see where this goes in the next few years.

For profit graduates accepting jobs in psych paying $45 an hour and making that the norm.

[FullGlass, BSN, MSN, NP]

33 minutes ago, MentalKlarity said:

For profit graduates accepting jobs in psych paying $45 an hour and making that the norm.

Why do you all assume that for-profit grads will take NP jobs paying crap?  If they can make more $ being an RN, then they will go back to being an RN! 

Many readers here are assuming that all new grad NPs are going to get NP jobs.  They aren't.  And an oversupply of crap NPs from crap schools is exactly what will drive those schools out of business.

There is also an assumption among many readers that employers are clueless about schools.  Well, they aren't.  They are more likely to hire new grad NPs from good schools, given a choice.  And many will not fill a position with just a warm body.  They have liability issues to consider.

In the corporate world, we recruited new college grads from certain schools.  We would go to the schools like UCLA, UC Irvine, Cal State LA, etc.  We would not go to Univ of Phoenix to recruit new grads.  I think doctors and nurses are well aware of decent schools.  Just because diploma mills are pumping out NPs does not mean that all those NPs will be hired.

An oversupply of crap NPs from crap schools is not going to drive down pay.  We have a surplus of attorneys, but the ones that work for the good firms still make good money.  We have surplus of STEM grads, but Silicon Valley still pays great money for good tech people.

I have never seen a profession like NPs where you all are so scared of increasing supply.  I'm not.  The market always corrects itself over time.