What are the BEST and WORST States to practice as an NP?

Specialties NP Nursing Q/A

I am speaking primarily from two perspectives here:

1. The degree to which NP's are accepted, recognized, and utilized in that area/state.

2. The degree to which state law recognizes NP's, and grants them autonomy, and privledges such as the ability to write prescriptions.

My suggestion would be to go to the source: the california board of nursing

here's a URL for NP practice regs, etc.

http://www.rn.ca.gov/regulations/np.shtml

hope this helps!

Southern California climate is WONDERFUL!

cost of living IS higher than here in the Baltimore Metro area (probably similar to DC area)

Specializes in ED, Tele, Psych.
Hey all what about Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, North or South Carolina??

Im in Michigan and am currently a nurse educator in both the critical care setting of a hospital and a community college. I am going to open my own DBA as home care NP and contract my services.

I am fed up with the AMA and Old boy network that drools all over PAs!!!!!!!!! I am making 100K a year doing this job and can't get near that as an NP very discouraging.

Arizona and New Mexico are good choices - but to avoid the old-boy network, stay in the more urban areas. check the Pearson report for comparisons.

Hi to everyone,

I know this thread has been going on for quite a while, so I hope some of you are still interested! I am considering a move to Boulder, CO. So far, I've only found openings for NP's in Denver. I'm wondering if anyone has an opinion about the job market in Boulder, or about the commute from Boulder to Denver (or really any opinion about living in that region in general...lol!).

Thanks for taking the time to help!

Specializes in Psychiatric, Detox/Rehab, Geriatrics.

Well, Pennsylvania might be one of the best states for NP's to work, but for Clinical Nurse Specialists, they are just NOW getting title recognition. CNSs don't even have prescriptive authority in PA, which is pretty sad as there are more states that have Rx authority for CNSs and every state around PA has prescriptive authority for CNSs. It just saddens me because I really want to be a Psych CNS, but to get that Rx authority, I'll either have to move to another state, or move close to one of the bordering states, which would place me at least 2 hours from my friends and family, something I don't want to do, so I'm pretty much stuck with going for a Psych Np program, not that there's anything wrong with Psych NPs, I just like the way the CNS programs for Psych are set up as compared to the Pysch NP programs in this state, as there's more emphasis on psychotherapy in the Psych CNS programs in PA.

Specializes in ER, ICU, Med/Surg, Pedi.
I am speaking primarily from two perspectives here:

1. The degree to which NP's are accepted, recognized, and utilized in that area/state.

2. The degree to which state law recognizes NP's, and grants them autonomy, and privledges such as the ability to write prescriptions.

You guys can check the yearly pearson report to get information on each state for FNP practice. Thanks.

How is Illinois given the AMA presence...just curious.

Specializes in ER, HH, CTICU, corrections, cardiology, hospice.

NO REQUIREMENT FOR ANY PHYSICIAN INVOLVEMENT:

Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming, Maine (after the first 2 years of practice)

PRESCRIBING ASPECT OF NP PRACTICE

ABSOLUTELY NO REQUIREMENT FOR ANY PHYSICIAN INVOLVEMENT:

Alaska, Arizona, District of Columbia, Idaho, Iowa, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, Maine (after the first 2 years of practice)

I just applied for my NM NP license, (what a mess that BON is) I had to tell them my medical director and to get prescriptive privileges I had to submit a formulary from the MD. So the above is not strictly accurate for NM, much to my consternation and surprise.

Specializes in ER/Tele, Med-Surg, Faculty, Urgent Care.

That is not correct. I am in New Mexico and I do not have any physician involvement as we have completely independent practice. I am in a practice that is NP owned. The formula I sent the BON is my formulary. I do not have a medical director.

You are not required to have any physician supervision at all.:smokin:

That is not correct. I am in New Mexico and I do not have any physician involvement as we have completely independent practice. I am in a practice that is NP owned. The formula I sent the BON is my formulary. I do not have a medical director.

You are not required to have any physician supervision at all.:smokin:

I am SO jealous! I grew up in New Mexico and my family is still there, but I live in MD dominant TEXAS! NP's didn't score ONE POINT during the legislative session this year, if anything, our practice is more restrictive. We were hoping to gain independence, but we didn't even come close. One of the doctors who spoke before the legislature stated that NP's were a "threat to the safety of the citizens of Texas!" He also stated that they had made a mistake in the past by allowing us too much independence. He said, "We've let the cows out of the barn and now it's time to bring them back in!" If that isn't a sexist comment, then tell me what is! I can't BELIEVE that didn't get major press coverage!

As of September 1st, we have to let the Texas Medical Board know who our "collaborative" physician is, just like the PA's do. I just drool when I hear all about my home state having full independent practice for NP's! I'm so sick of this crap I just wanna scream! :scrm:

NO REQUIREMENT FOR ANY PHYSICIAN INVOLVEMENT:

Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming, Maine (after the first 2 years of practice)

PRESCRIBING ASPECT OF NP PRACTICE

ABSOLUTELY NO REQUIREMENT FOR ANY PHYSICIAN INVOLVEMENT:

Alaska, Arizona, District of Columbia, Idaho, Iowa, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, Maine (after the first 2 years of practice)

I just applied for my NM NP license, (what a mess that BON is) I had to tell them my medical director and to get prescriptive privileges I had to submit a formulary from the MD. So the above is not strictly accurate for NM, much to my consternation and surprise.

What do you mean by "I had to submit a formulary from the MD"? I don't understand this, New Mexico doesn't require MD involvement to practice.

Specializes in Adolescent Psych, PICU.

OKLAHOMA NP???

I am an RN and live here in Oklahoma City. Ive been thinking about going back to school for NP or PA. All I see around here working in the clinics is PA-C. I know there are some NPs that Ive run into who work at the health department and my OBGYN office.

I have a few friends who were in NP school here at OU yet ended up moving down to Texas after they graduated, maybe just because the pay is better elsewhere (new grad RN only start about $19/hr).

So what is better here in OK? NP or PA? I do not want to waste my time or money going through a program to not be able to find a job or have no respect from MD/DOs. I'm very confused which path to take.

Thanks for any input. Im also going to post this as its own topic in this forum, remove if needed.

As of September 1st, we have to let the Texas Medical Board know who our "collaborative" physician is, just like the PA's do.

The thought of independent practice given to people who aren't physicians is very scary to me. I am a new grad FNP and honestly I don't care if an NP has 15 years of experience under their belt. We are NOT Dr's. Heck, I'll bet a good majority of us would even admit that PAs have a better clinical education than we do. Why the big fuss to be registered with the TMB? It is a piece of paper.

+ Add a Comment