Why do RNs get paid so similar to NPs?

[foreverLaur]

I was googling average NP salaries, and they looked to be $80-$90k a year. My hospital's average floor nurse (RN) salary is $84,000. Most of our nurses have ADNs. It seems a little unfair that someone with an associate degree would get paid almost the same as someone with masters degree? I'm a little confused.

[MedSurgeMess]

that's crap. I made 60k last year and that was with OT.

Me, too, only in the low 70s.....and the NPs are salaried and made way more than me, but the number of positions for NPs in my geographic location is low, many NPs, CNSs, CNLs, and so forth, working at bedside for bedside pay-no more than what I make hourly....

[jjjoy, LPN]

To be a teacher requires a bachelor's degree plus a teaching credential. To be a social worker requires a master's degree. There are many jobs out there where the level of pay does not reflect the educational requirements. Fair? I wish life were fair more often!

In the case of nursing, I think being an NP appeals to a lot of people more than bedside nursing. And the pay looks good for a relatively short training period. With the advent of direct entry and accelerated programs, more people, especially those with bachelors degrees and a number of pre-reqs already nailed, could look at the possibility of becoming an NP within 3 years with minimal bedside nursing 'dues to pay'. Between a looming increase in NPs and the fact that they're fresh out of school bringing minimal prior health care experience with them and with few alternatives for employment would seem to likely to push compensation down. I think it will remain good overall but depending on one's local economic and medical environment, the difference in pay between RN and NP can vary significantly.

[questionsforall]

There are many Nurses in my unit that have their NP, but they choose to work as RNs instead because if they worked as an NP they would take a pay cut(because they had worked as an RN for so many years)

[marilynmom, LPN, NP]

It does depend on the location.

I will make about $45K this year. The RNs I know with 10-20 yrs experience will make $65K yr. New NPs here make about $80,000 yr and it just goes up from there ($100,000).

I think in *most* places NP and RNs do NOT make the same amount of money. But I would believe that in some places they would because sooooo many people are going to school to be NP, the market in some places is flooded with RNs with NPs degrees.

[delvenia]

I am a new grad and i make $46k while in training in hampton roads

[wooh, BSN, RN]

And baseball players make millions with a high school diploma. It's not about education, it's about supply and demand. NPs generally do make more (although not necessarily a lot more) than bedside nurses, but I think the reason to go back for that degree is for the work conditions, not the pay.

[missie925RN]

Don't know where you are but that isn't how it is here. RN's make about 40-50k and NP's make 80k and up. I must be in the wrong place!

yes u r in a wrong place. lol move to NY

[missie925RN]

I am a new grad and i make $46k while in training in hampton roads

wow thats low. my friend started as a new grad with associate degree 75k

[chenoaspirit, ASN, RN]

I make around 55,000 per year. I have a friend who is a NP and started her own clinic and she makes probably 4-5 times what I make.

A NP here may make the same as an RN in your region. If you look at one region, the NP will make more than the RN (within the same region).

[diane227, LPN, RN]

My sister in law who is one of the most intelligent people I know is a neonatal nurse practitioner with a large practice group here in Seattle. I am a charge nurse at a small community hospital. She works 24 hour shifts. I work 8 hour shifts. I make at least $10 an hour more than she does.

[respectall]

If they work in the floor they are paid similar regardless of degree held. however it's different if NPs' work for primary MDS', it is up to that group's discretion of how much they wage their NPs. NP's are often use as substitute for MDs in their offices to bridge the gap! and in some case NP's are being utilized in inpatient setting to make rounds/take calls for their MD partners! In our hospital our MANAGEMENT actually terminated this practice because of liability issue that have come up. Personally I would rather DEAL with the pt's attending MD than to the NP. In most cases when a crisis arise, I end up corresponding to two advisors who often have dissimilar approach and you as the Nurse ENDS UP the mediator and usually the MD supersides.

One NP in our hospital was actually discharged from his position d/t malpractice. This particular NP would come in our unit and started changing Orders from the attending md. fURtheremore this NP would changes pt code status. I personally reported his actions to our ethics commitee which subsequently may have contributed to his demise.

[Kabin]

NPs are under paid relative to the increased responsibility and hours worked.