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?

[londonflo]

9 hours ago, MentalKlarity said:

I'm just so flabbergasted by someone not understanding job economics well enough

Actually salary can change because of job economics. As a nursing professor I moved from one state to another. For accreditation purposes, the school needed a professor who did not travel the same road as the other faculty.....same diploma school for basic education, same school for BSN and MSN. Diversity in faculty education was essential...I asked for and got a better salary. Economics plays a great part in the grocery store. For a dozen eggs do you want, medium, large, cage free, grass fed? Most of us think and egg is an egg...the grocery store and egg suppliers know differently. 

There are the 'cheap'eggs, store brand and the other ones that most of us buy. 

[FullGlass, BSN, MSN, NP]

On 5/9/2021 at 7:48 PM, MentalKlarity said:

It's just not true. There are plenty of professions that have been overwhelmed by supply and wages dropped as jobs became scarce. You also put too much stock in employers, as many just want a warm body and don't care who does it while they push all liability to the provider. I'm sorry but we're just not gonna have a system where Walden graduates make $45 an hour and Johns Hopkins graduates makes $115 an hour. No employer will pay that premium. If the market becomes tight employers simply lower wages and salary as they don't have to compete for applicants. That's literally just how the employment market works.

 

There's a reason physicians have rejected attempts to increase schools/residency slots. They know that their endless job opportunities and high salaries are entirely dependent on low supply. If we double the number of physicians overnight their salaries would drop like a rock. They know that. We should too.

1.  Medical schools have increased their class sizes by 30% in recent years.  The problem is that there are not enough residencies, and the reason for that is getting the funding from the federal government.  There has not been a decline in doctorl compensation because of an increased supply.

2.  I don't know what kind of employers you are dealing with.  Employers are also liable, so they can't just put warm bodies in slots.  They also cannot just push all liability to the providers.  I advise those reading this to just say no to employers that are not committed to providing quality care.

3.  You never provide any evidence for your assertions.  I have provided evidence that NP pay has been increasing.  Anecdotes are not evidence.    NP pay has not gone down from what I am seeing.  

4.  What occupations have been overwhelmed by supply?  Please share evidence with us.  

I used to work in high tech.  Young people are all being urged to go into STEM fields and work in high tech.  Yet, Silicon Valley is booming and they are always eager for new talent.  Pay has not gone down, but has increased in recent years.  And yes, there is a pay differential.  Americans with the best skills make top $.  Low-level tech jobs are being outsourced to other countries, and those jobs pay less.  

The lesson - keep your skills top-notch and focus on developing skills so you stay ahead of the technology waves and changes.  I did that for 20 years in high tech.  For NPs, that means developing the skills that will be in demand.  NPs can specialize, and there are specialties with a shortage of providers, like pain management.

5.  I suggest NPs out there focus on stepping up their game, instead of living in fear.

 

[londonflo]

On 5/25/2021 at 3:36 PM, FullGlass said:

Anecdotes are not evidence.    NP pay has not gone down from what I am seeing.  

And yet you state an anecdote for your response.