While choosing a career, it is imperative that we know the exact job. This is especially true for the medical field, since the job descriptions of so many professions in this field are similar. A Nurse Practitioner is an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN). Some of their work cannot be done by nurses. Depending on the specialization, NPs have differentiated work. The rest of the article will show you the specializations and general work duties of these professionals.
Table Of Contents:
- Nurse Practitioner Salary
- Nurse Practitioner Employment Outlook
- How To Become A Nurse Practitioner
- Nurse Practitioner Job Description
How Much Salary Does A Nurse Practitioner Get In Wichita?
The average salary for a nurse practitioner is around $90,000. The NP receives higher salary than RNs, which is approximately $65,000. This value is lower compared to an NP since an NP goes through more training and education and later earns the right to practice medicine.
[asd_program_button /]Location
The higher the demand for NPs, the higher they will be paid. For example, Hawaii is the highest paying state with an average salary of $115,000 a year. This amount is 30% higher than the average national salary. In Delaware, NPs could earn as much as $67,000.
Years of Experience
Experience is not too much of a factor for salary increase in the field. After 20 years of working, the salary may increase 10-15%.
Skills
Your capacity for work could contribute to your salary increase. An approximate salary of $99,000 could be given to those with skills in acute care and emergency room skills. The professional may earn up to $92,000 for specializing in family care. Those who work as geriatrics and internal medicine specialists earn somewhere in between.
Increase in Position
The only real way to increase your salary in this line of work is to get promoted or get specialized. There are a few processes you can follow to achieve this. You can try to become a Nurse Practitioner Anesthetist who can earn about $150,000 a year. You could also try to become an Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner to earn a bit more than a normal NP. Other alternatives are to become a Family, Pediatric NP, Psychiatrist NP, or an Adult NP. Besides taking these courses, you could earn more by taking other specialization courses. These things will require an additional certification and some more hours of training in that specific field.
Incentives
An NP is entitled to numerous benefits. These include paid vacations, retirement planning and health insurance. They are often reimbursed for any further studies that they may wish to undertake to improve themselves. They are also paid to attend certain conferences and their registration fees are taken care of.
Since primary medical personnel is short in numbers, the demand for mid-level medical care professionals may increase. Therefore, an increase in Nurse Practitioners salary is more likely to happen in time. As an NP you are also given more time and freedom to choose which cases to work on.
The Status of Nurse Practitioner Employment In Wichita
As of 2014, there were about 170,000 jobs for nurse practitioners solely in the United States of America. According to BLS, the industry is expected to grow by 31% over the next decade. This means that about 57,000 new jobs will come up in that period. The main reason for this is the shortage of medical workers. Doctors and physicians cannot meet the demands of the people. This means that PAs and NPs will continue to be needed for a long time. It is estimated that the jobs for Family, Pediatric, Gastroenterology, and Hospitalist NPs will rise by about 11% whereas that of neonatal NPs will rise about 34%. The speed of growth is much higher than the the other careers’ growth rate.
[asd_program_button /]Another reason for the increasing demand of nurses is because they take a patient-centered approach rather than a disease-centered one. Thus, patients sometimes prefer NPs to PAs.
Rustic areas have a continuous need for better healthcare. NPs are the best medical professionals in these areas because establishments are impossible to build there. These medical practitioners may ask help from other physicians to cater to the patients in the area. NPs could apply in Office of Physicians, Outpatient Care Centers, and General Hospitals.
Specialized health care demands are rapidly increasing. Specializations of nurses include those in pediatrics, gerontology, acute care, and other fields. When the patient’s illness is within their scope of specialty, they can diagnose it more accurately.
The educational field is also in need of nurses. Medical schools have a shortage of teachers for nurses and medical professionals. So, if a nurse practitioner gets a Ph.D. he or she would be authorized to teach as an academic. People generally go into consulting or teaching after a certain age. NPs who do not have the strength to carry on the usual work may opt for this.
There is a brighter future for nurse practitioners in terms of earnings. Because of the need for nurse practitioners, a 19% salary raise in 2020 may be given. In the field of teaching, nurse practitioners may get as much as $85,000. This can go up to $175,000 a year easily with experience. The salary increase depends on the nurse practitioner’s specialization. The earnings of a nurse anesthetist could range from $150,000 to $235,000.
The salary and job prospects of any career also depend on the state one is residing in. More information and data about NPs could be found in Bureau of Labor Statistics. Obviously, it is a career that is challenging and highly accredited, as well.
How To Become A Nurse Practioner In Wichita
How to Be A Registered Nurse
One should strive to become a registered nurse first. To do this you must earn a bachelor’s or an associate’s degree from any of the registered institutions. A diploma can work as well. Although, some papers may not be useful because medical experience weighs more. Experience during the bachelor’s or an associate’s degree internship contributes to this requirement. Taking and passing the standardized national exam for RNs is your next step so you can work officially. Becoming a Licensed Practical Nurse first is another way to achieve your goals.
[asd_program_button /]Bachelor’s Degree
Earning a bachelor’s degree is the next thing to do. This is ideal for applicants for a diploma or an associate’s degree. A requirement is a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) diploma. This will not only give you a more in-depth education in the medical world, but it will make you undergo a lot of clinical rounds. This is extremely important as experience plays a key role in any medical field. You may already have a bachelor’s degree while you were pursuing a career as Registered Nurse. In such cases, there are bridge programs from RN-BSN. The program has different time schedules. If you have a part-time work, the period of the study may take longer. LPN-BSN also offers bridge courses.
Period of Experience
As mentioned before, being experienced is key to getting into of the careers in the medical field. Getting a master’s degree after a bachelor’s degree might be the most efficient way of becoming an NP. Some nurses who have been working for a long time feel that this process is somehow lacking when it comes to real life applications. Before earning a graduate degree, they recommend more training. Most graduate degrees require a certain amount of experience before the student could be admitted. This training teaches you how to work with a team of medical professionals, how to work efficiently, how to tend to different patients and how to treat a variety of infections.
Earning a Master’s Degree
To become a Nurse Practitioner, one needs to earn a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree. Many programs accept RNs with a diploma or an associate’s degree. Students who want to be enrolled in other programs needs to have a bachelor’s degree. It doesn’t matter which one you go for, you will be trained for knowledge and application in real settings. Students are often required to get a lot of work experience as an RN while they are learning to be an NP. Alternatively, you could get a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree.
[asd_program_search_bar /]Earning A Ph.D. Title
Additionally, one can opt to get a Ph.D. in any of the specializations after the master’s degree. In this way, you can have more reputation in the field and you may have higher salary. Others choose family care, gerontology or health systems as their field of specialization.
State License and Other Documents
An NP must be licensed by the state. Each state has a different list of licensing requirements. They publish a list of accepted programs and bachelor’s degree. To become a nurse practitioner, it is important for every candidate to have a valid RN license, a master’s degree in nursing and to pass the state licensure exam. Your specialization is also a big factor in the type of licensure exams you will take. The American Nurses Association has ancillary branches and you can submit your application in any of them like the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board.
To revise, you first need to get an associate’s degree or a diploma to become a registered nurse. Then you must obtain a bachelor’s degree after which you move on to gain some experience. Finally, you acquire a master’s degree following which you get licensed after applying for the appropriate program.
What Does A Wichita Nurse Practioner Do?
Works in general
A nurse practitioner usually works under the supervision of a physician or someone of the same level. Diagnosing and treating patients are also part of their jobs. They can also order certain tests and medical procedures to be conducted. After the results are out, they can interpret and discuss them with the patient. They are also authorized to help as a surgeon as an anesthetist when needed in an operation. They could also handle high risk surgeries.
[asd_program_button /]Nurse practitioners work with the patient-centered method. This means that they focus more on the patients’ needs and wants while treating them. Most usual advises include prevention because they want to keep their patients away from diseases before they occur. Thus, a huge role of NPs is to consult patients on how to prevent injuries and illnesses.
In general, nurse practitioners need a specialization before they take the licensure exam. There is a need for this because NPs have a specialization in the field. The following are the works most of them choose.
Family NP
NPs on this field consult with whole families. They can treat people of all ages and discuss ways to prevent diseases with the family. Families can receive high quality health care because the practitioner works with a physician.
Psychiatric NP
Psychiatric nurse practitioners work with a group of people who have mental issues. Both therapy and prescription of medicine can be administered by them. However, they are not allowed to perform psychological testing. In this case, they can work with a professional psychologist to come up with a treatment program base on the results.
Working As Pediatric NP
Newborn to 18 year old patients are handled by pediatric NPs. The neonatal NP belongs to this specialization. This is the work of the nurses you find in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs). Kids can have a smoother puberty process through the help of pediatric NPs. They are also the ones who give immunizations and vaccines to children.
NPs in Gerontology
A gerontology nurse practitioner specializes in the healthcare of old people. They help by recommending the ideal activities and treatments to address existing illnesses and prevent them from worsening. However, since old people are more sickly, it is the expert’s job to make sure their illnesses do not reduce the quality of their lifestyles. They are also responsible for coming up with fitness plans for such people who will need it to live for an extended period.
These are just some of the specializations of a nurse practitioner. There are more fields that NP would want to pursue. The earnings may be different for each specialization. One of the highest paying specializations is a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA). After learning these work descriptions for your future career, you may now be able to choose the ideal path for you.
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