A Nurse Practitioner's View

My informal salary survey had 6 respondents (thank you for responding!) You can see the actual results on the right hand side of my blog. Interestingly, 3 of the 6 respondents reported salaries in the $70 - $79,999 category. I know for certain in the NY metropolitan area that salaries are a bit higher than that. One may look at this and say "I can make more money as an R.N." and that would be true. In my experience with my colleagues, NPs don't mainly become NPs for the financial incentives. It is about taking on patient care from a unique perspective - a perspective that synthesizes nursing and medicine, that sets out to be culturally competent, that strives for evidence and that focuses on the whole person. There are still many out there who do not (nor care to) understand NP practice. I maintain that we are not "physician wannabes" and bring something inherently unique and valuable to patient care. Thanks again for responding!

Hi, I see a lot of inquires for NP wages. Please take my informal salary survey on the right of the page. Of course, there are many variables to consider such as benefits, bonuses, hourly vs. salaried, etc. I'd just like to get an idea of what others are making and will report on the results. The survey will be up for a week. Thanks, Stephen

An article about physician assistants and nurse practitioners appears in the NY Times Jobs section. The article does a very good job of explaining both professions though I would disagree with a few of the statements. Another important difference is that P.A.’s are generalists, while nurse practitioners train in a specialty like family medicine or women’s health. As a result, P.A.’s can switch fields more easily . - I would say that isn't necessarily true. Since the majority of NPs are trained in family health, I think it's just as easy for these FNPs to transition into different roles. To patients, the two roles can seem very similar. Salaries can be similar, too. The average total income for physician assistants in full-time clinical practice is about $86,000, according to the P.A. academy. The average total income for nurse practitioners is $92,000. - average salary of $92k? I think that sounds pretty high. Most of the NPs that I know are in the $70 - $90k range and I ...

The WSJ Health Blog posted yesterday: " Some Nurses Land Higher Salaries Than Primary Care Doctors. " The gist of the article is that a recruiting firm averaged a nurse anesthetist's salary to be $185k/year opposed to $172k/year for family physicians. Now, I'm not sure if that is a blow to the sad state of primary care in this country or is a blatant smack at nurses. Is it heresy that nurses can make more than physicians? I just get the overwhelming sense from the article and its anonymous comments that the nursing profession (and its many specialties) is undervalued, poorly understood and should be akin to the handmaiden image. Why does it always have to be us vs. them?! Ugh.

Syracuse, NY native Archie McEvers , NP, will appear in Sunday's annual Parade Magazine "What People Earn" insert. Archie was chosen from millions of submissions and joins celebrities appearing in the survey. Archie, who has worked at University Hospital in Syracuse for the past 20 years is quoted as saying, ".. I hope that people will at least recognize what a nurse practitioner is..." This coverage in the Health Care section of the Parade survey certainly helps! See below to view the news clip from the local Syracuse, NY station.