What made you choose Nurse Practitioner?

christvs, DNP, RN, NP · Mar 23, 2006

Hi! I've been an RN for 8 months now & while I really enjoy what I am doing now, I know that in the future I would like to have more autonomy & responsibility in my job, and want to be more involved in making all kinds of medical and nursing decisions for my patients. That is why I will start taking grad school classes in a couple of months toward my MSN to become an acute/critical care NP.

cgfnp · Mar 23, 2006

I am currently working on transfer courses to be applied to an RN-BSN three semester program this upcoming Fall. I plan to go to graduate school afterwards and the Medical Director where I work has talked to me about the possibility of working with him as a nurse practitioner. My employer will foot the bill for graduate school (which is a plus) but I am not sure if this is the route to go. Can anyone tell me what reasons they chose to become a Nurse Practitioner?

Hello.

I wanted to practice medicine and I originally thought I could only do that as a MD/DO, so that's what I started to go after. However, nearly at the end of the Bachelor's, I talked to a doc who opened the door to the opportunity to be a NP, so I thought about it for a long time, and ended up choosing the NP route. My reasons:

1. Much better malpractice rates.

2. Much less part of my life away from my family.

3. About 1/3 the student loan debt.

4. 5 yrs minimum of NP income lost if I would've went MD (which I know would've evened out eventually if I'd chosen a specialty that makes a lot of $$$, but I'm enjoying the hell outta making six figures in my twenties).

Good luck....

Jo Dirt · Apr 4, 2006

Hello.
I wanted to practice medicine and I originally thought I could only do that as a MD/DO, so that's what I started to go after. However, nearly at the end of the Bachelor's, I talked to a doc who opened the door to the opportunity to be a NP, so I thought about it for a long time, and ended up choosing the NP route. My reasons:
1. Much better malpractice rates.
2. Much less part of my life away from my family.
3. About 1/3 the student loan debt.
4. 5 yrs minimum of NP income lost if I would've went MD (which I know would've evened out eventually if I'd chosen a specialty that makes a lot of $$$, but I'm enjoying the hell outta making six figures in my twenties).
Good luck....

Where do NP's make six figure incomes? I've never heard of such a thing.

Editorial Team / Admin · Apr 4, 2006

Where do NP's make six figure incomes? I've never heard of such a thing.

Goodness, many many areas.

True, the newly graduated NP will not make this (normally), but as a seasoned NP, that is a very resonable expectation.

cgfnp · Apr 4, 2006

Where do NP's make six figure incomes? I've never heard of such a thing.

This is exactly the type of reaction that seasons society into thinking that paying a NP six figures is rediculous, when in fact, the total income, wherever it may fall, should be redundant. If a NP generates enough revenue, then paying them less than six figures is rediculous. A person, MD, DO, DDS, OD, NP, PA, or anything else that provides a service that is reimbursed based on this service provided should be payed according to that service being provided and the revenue generated by said service. If that means making $40K/yr because you only want to work 3 days a week and take a two hour lunch, then so be it. But, the opposite should also be true. If you want to bust your rear and show up early, stay late, and skip lunch while you bring in upwards of five grand in a day, then I think you're crazy not to pay that person a reasonable share of the income they generated, no matter what letters are behind their name.

Doesn't sound so crazy anymore, does it?

Jo Dirt · Apr 5, 2006

This is exactly the type of reaction that seasons society into thinking that paying a NP six figures is rediculous, when in fact, the total income, wherever it may fall, should be redundant. If a NP generates enough revenue, then paying them less than six figures is rediculous. A person, MD, DO, DDS, OD, NP, PA, or anything else that provides a service that is reimbursed based on this service provided should be payed according to that service being provided and the revenue generated by said service. If that means making $40K/yr because you only want to work 3 days a week and take a two hour lunch, then so be it. But, the opposite should also be true. If you want to bust your rear and show up early, stay late, and skip lunch while you bring in upwards of five grand in a day, then I think you're crazy not to pay that person a reasonable share of the income they generated, no matter what letters are behind their name.
Doesn't sound so crazy anymore, does it?

Sounds crazy in a good way. I'll be signing up for FNP ASAP. I was looking through a journal and it listed the average salary (tops) for a NP to be $85,000.

I hope you folks are the ones who are right.

cgfnp · Apr 5, 2006

Sounds crazy in a good way. I'll be signing up for FNP ASAP. I was looking through a journal and it listed the average salary (tops) for a NP to be $85,000.
I hope you folks are the ones who are right.

Yes, I've seen countless surveys that list that average number. But, I think that number is skewed by several NPs that don't want to see more than 12-15 patients/day in low reimbursement settings, so they aren't generating enough $$$ to get more than 50 or 60K/yr. But, if you put yourself in the right setting and learn the reimbursements and collection number for your services, you can negotiate with these numbers. You may have to take a low salary at first until you get some numbers, but once you do, you MUST take this information to the administration and if they ignore you, take it to other prospective employers so you can show them your track record and eliminate their worries and risks in hiring a new provider. I guarantee if you came to a clinic I owned and showed me numbers that generated a solid revenue, I'd be happy to give you a fair share. Anyone who wouldn't just doesn't know business, plain and simple. Most in the healthcare world think this concept is crazy and paying a NP $150K/yr is rediculous. If the NP generates $500K/yr, I think your crazy not to pay them $150K. If you don't, and I catch wind of their production, you can bet I'll have them on the phone with a handsome sign-on bonus luring them away from your profitable yet poorly administrated clinic.

This idea is certainly not common.... but neither are profitable clinics.