Hodgenville Kentucky Nurse Practitioner Salary And Job Requirements

We should determine the actual job before making a career option. The same could be said in the medical field, where different jobs could be mistaken for others. A Nurse Practitioner is also known as an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN). Some of their work cannot be done by nurses. The job duties of an NP vary from one specialization to another. Let us look at the general job duties and that of their specializations.

Nurse Practitioner Career Summary

**Image Source – BLS.gov

Table Of Contents:

How Much Salary Does A Nurse Practitioner Get In Hodgenville?

A nurse practitioner receives an average of $90,000. RNs receive $65,000 on average, which means they earn less than NPs. The reason behind this is that NPs train longer so they could be medical practitioners.

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Location

Wherever there is a growing need of NPs, they will be paid more. NPs in Hawaii are the highest earners among all the states as they receive $115,000 every year. This is about 30% percent more than the national average. While Delaware offers something around $67,000.

Nurse practitioner salary information

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Length of Practice

As far as experienced is concerned as a factor of salary, in this field, even with experience, the salary hardly increases. It increases about 10-15% over 20 years of experience.

Expertise

Your capacity for work could contribute to your salary increase. Skills in acute care and emergency room may help increase salary to $99,000. The professional may earn up to $92,000 for specializing in family care. Those who earn somewhere in between are mostly geriatrics and internal medicine practitioners.

Promotions

The only real way to increase your salary in this line of work is to get promoted or get specialized. Achieving this may require you to do the following. An option is to earn $150,000 annually by becoming a Nurse Practitioner Anesthetist. Another is by becoming an Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner, who earns slightly more than the regular 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. The specific area you take may require you to spend a period of time to apply what you learned and you will receive certificates in return.

Incentives

NPs also receive some benefits. These include paid vacations, retirement planning and health insurance. Most of the time, the company gives back the amount of money spent on further schooling that enhances their abilities. 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.

Average nurse practitioner wage in

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Nurse Practitioner Hodgenville Employment Outlook

In 2014, the United States of America provided 170,000 jobs to nurse practitioners. According to BLS, the industry is expected to grow by 31% over the next decade. During that time, as much as 57,000 jobs will be available. This is primarily due to the lack of healthcare professionals. Doctors and physicians cannot meet the demands of the people. Thus, the need of people like PAs and NPs is increasing and is projected to increase even further. There is an expected 11% increase in jobs for Family, Pediatric, Gastroenterology, and Hospitalist NPs while jobs for neonatal NPs will have a 34% increase. Compared to other jobs, this increase in growth is faster.

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Another reason for the increasing demand of nurses is because they take a patient-centered approach rather than a disease-centered one. NPs are more sought for than PAs for this reason.

Rustic areas have a continuous need for better healthcare. Most of these areas are not suitable for new buildings, which means that the people could only consult with NPs. They coordinate with physicians and treat the patients in such areas. NPs could apply in Office of Physicians, Outpatient Care Centers, and General Hospitals.

Specialized health care demands are rapidly increasing. Pediatrics, gerontology, acute care and other specializations are usually practiced by nurse practitioners. When the patient’s illness is within their scope of specialty, they can diagnose it more accurately.

Employment outlook for nurse practitioners in

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Another need for nurses is coming up in education. Teachers of nurses and other medical professionals are needed due to the lack of people honing the skills of the future medical practitioners. So, if a nurse practitioner gets a Ph.D. he or she would be authorized to teach as an academic. Some people resort to teaching after a long period of service. This choice is made by NPs who feel that the regular work in the medical field has already worn them.

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. A salary of $85,000 may be earned by those who are in teaching. If you have been exposed to many medical specialization, your salary could increase to $175,000 within a year. The salary of a specialized nurse practitioner depends on the 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. As you can see, this is a highly competitive job with great prospects.

Nurse practitioner job outlook

**Image Source – BLS.gov

How To Become A Nurse Practioner In Hodgenville

How to Be A Registered Nurse

First, one needs to become a registered nurse. In order to be one, get your bachelor’s or an associate’s degree from an accredited school. Another way is earning a diploma. 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. After this, you must take a standardized national test and then get the license to practice as an RN. Another option is to become a Licensed Practical Nurse first.

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Earning Bachelor’s Degree

The next step is to earn a Bachelor’s degree. This is mostly for people who had earlier applied for a diploma or an associate’s degree. A requirement is a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) diploma. Besides the comprehensive learning of medical procedures, there is also application during internship clinic rounds. One’s experience in the field contributes a lot to the career of a medical professional. 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. It will take more time if you are working while you are studying. LPN-BSN also offers bridge courses.

Experience

The medical field treats experience as a great factor. Earning your master’s degree right after your bachelor’s degree may be the ideal process to follow to become an NP. However, many people already in the profession feel that this leaves you inadequately trained for the situations that you might face in life. For this reason, getting some training is advised if you are planning to get a graduate degree. This is because prior experience is a requirement in certain NP training programs. The training you will receive may enable you to dealwith patients effectively, treat ailments, work with other professionals, and do the tasks efficiently.

Earning a Master’s Degree

Getting a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) is mandatory for becoming a Nurse Practitioner. RNs having diploma or an associate’s degree are usually accepted in most programs. Students who want to be enrolled in other programs needs to have a bachelor’s degree. Either way, the master’s degree includes spending time in both the classroom and the clinic. Students are often required to get a lot of work experience as an RN while they are learning to be an NP. You might also try to get a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree as an alternative.

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Doctorate (optional)

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. Specialization in family care, gerontology or health systems are good options.

State License and Certification

An NP must be licensed by the state. Different states may require some documents that other stated do not. Some only accept those whose bachelor degrees fall under their list of accepted programs. Passing the state licensure exam, RN license, and a master’s degree are the requirements in becoming a nurse practitioner. The licensure exam differs depending on the specialization you are choosing. The American Nurses Association has ancillary branches and you can submit your application in any of them like the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board.

In general, you will need an associate degree or a diploma to become a registered nurse. A bachelor’s degree should follow wherein you will be trained in the field. Lastly, you will get a master’s degree in your chosen area of specialization and the license will follow.

What Does A Hodgenville Nurse Practioner Do?

General duties

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. They can handle patient consultations and also interpret test results. During surgery, they could assist as a surgeon or as an anesthetist. They could even perform risky operations.

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Nurse practitioners take a patient centered approach to treatment. Treating their patients involve their patient’s needs as a big factor. Most usual advises include prevention because they want to keep their patients away from diseases before they occur. Patients under NPs will receive consultation including some advices on avoiding illnesses or injuries.

Before the licensure exam, a nurse practitioner is generally required to complete a specialization program. There is a need for this because NPs have a specialization in the field. The following are the works most of them choose.

NPs for Families

NPs on this field consult with whole families. They can treat people of all ages and discuss ways to prevent diseases with the family. Working with other physicians is also common when taking care of families.

Psychiatric NP

One of the professionals who can handle patients with mental problems is the psychiatric nurse practitioners. Both therapy and prescription of medicine can be administered by them. They cannot interpret psychological tests, though. 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. A subspecialty is a neonatal NP. These people look after infants and work at 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.

Gerontology NP

Old people are the patients of those working as gerontology nurse practitioners. Illnesses are treated and prevented with the help of these practitioners by giving their patients some advice. Since old age is often the onset of many diseases, it is their responsibility to look after the old people and reduce the progress of such diseases as much as possible. Most patients who could only live for a certain period are kept healthy by these professionals using fitness programs.

The mentioned are only few of the specializations a nurse practitioner have. There are several others that an NP might try to get into according to his or her own interests. The earnings may be different for each specialization. The Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) is a specialization that lets one earn one of the highest salaries. Now that you know the different roles that your job may entail, you can make an informed decision about your career choice.

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