Which specialty compensated the most financially?

whosyodoc · Jul 21, 2014

I trained in an emergency nurse practitioner program (dual-roll FNP/ACNP) at the MSN and DNP level. I opened my own NP-only urgent care and family medicine practice in rural northern Utah in November 2012. It is true that overhead is higher and most of it is payroll. My NPs have the highest wages in the region and I still cleared north of 300K last year. Everyone's situation is different. Local market needs and trends as well as open insurance panels for your specialty are extremely important when looking into opening a practice. Our area had only one urgent care that serviced the entire region of 150K+ population that was reporting wait times of 3-5 hours prior to my decision to open a clinic of my own. I know my situation may be unique, but with the right planning and doing your homework, you can be very successful with any chosen specialty as long as you are in a state that allows independent practice. If not, it may still be possible, but you are at the mercy of your supervising physician. Hope this helps☺

zmansc, ASN, RN · Jul 21, 2014

whosyodoc - Congratulations, and your story has a very good point. If you don't identify a business need first, you are not likely to be successful. It sounds like you took a very logical, systematic approach to finding a need, and filling it. Now you are reaping the profits of that approach. Thanks for sharing!

PG2018 · Jul 22, 2014

Having managed some organizations, I can attest, that for those of you wanting to own your own practice a spitball estimate of 60% is usually a good figure when factoring in what you'll spend on salaries and matching (insurance, retirement, etc. if offered). As an aside, if you have a fleet then fuels and vehicle maintenance will likely be your second largest line item followed by facility operations and maintenance.

Msmedic68w, MSN, RN · Jul 18, 2016

I think you are missing the point.
You can choose any NP specialty and make a decent wage, provided that there are jobs available where you live and/or you are willing to move. I am a pediatric NP, which is probably the lowest paying specialty. I certainly make more money than most RN's, and many other professionals with masters' degrees. Could I have made even more money by choosing a different specialty? Maybe, but that's iffy. There's no guarantees that if I had chosen a different specialty I would have ended up better off than I am now.
So, choosing one NP path over another is not the same as being a starving artist waiting tables or bartending until you get your big break. You can make a nice living as an NP regardless of specialty. Will other NP's make an even nicer living than you? That is very likely. And there are other professionals making even nicer livings than those NP's. At a certain point you gotta just keep your eyes on your own plate and decide what is enough for you.
PS Do you really believe that everyone in their heart of hearts is dreaming of being an actor or a singer?

I think you're focusing too much on the out of work actors and singers, it was used metaphorically and the operative word was "mostly". The point I was trying to make was in reference to the people who made comments suggesting that money is not a contributing factor in nursing, regardless of the speciality. I respectfully disagree. You say you are a ped NP but would you have gone into that speciality if the pay was 10 dollars an hours? Perhaps, but no one could fault you of you didn't even if you were passionate about it because the pay is not competitive. How would you manage to pay all your bills? So moral of the story is passion doesn't ALWAYS pay the bills.

Chic88 · Feb 26, 2018

Where do you live?