Selecting a career may require you to know the nature of the job. 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). This means that they can perform a range of specialized activities that a nurse can’t. 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 Reform?
The average salary for a nurse practitioner is around $90,000. The NP receives higher salary than RNs, which is approximately $65,000. The reason behind this is that NPs train longer so they could be medical practitioners.
[asd_program_button /]Location
Wherever there is a growing need of NPs, they will be paid more. For example, Hawaii is the highest paying state with an average salary of $115,000 a year. This is about 30% percent more than the national average. NPs in Delaware receive $67,000.
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.
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.
Work Promotions
Salary raise in the field could only be achieved when you get a promotion or when you earn a specialization. Achieving this may require you to do the following. An option is to earn $150,000 annually by becoming a Nurse Practitioner Anesthetist. You could also try to become an Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner to earn a bit more than a normal NP. Other options include being a Family, Pediatric NP, Psychiatrist NP, or an Adult NP. After this, of course, there are further specializations that can help you a bit more cash if needed. In order to achieve these things, you will need to undergo a number of training sessions and acquire additional certification.
Incentives
An NP is entitled to numerous 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. If there are conventions or seminars, they are given registration fees and some allowances.
With the shortage of primary health care personnel, the job outlook of mid-level health care practitioners is supposed to be on the rise. Therefore, an increase in Nurse Practitioners salary is more likely to happen in time. NPs also tend to have more time on their hands to opt for the work assignment they want.
Nurse Practitioner Reform Employment Outlook
In 2014, the United States of America provided 170,000 jobs to nurse practitioners. The BLS predicts an average of 31% growth in the industry within the next 10 years. During that time, as much as 57,000 jobs will be available. This is primarily due to the lack of healthcare professionals. The number of doctors and physicians cannot cope with the increasing medical needs of the population. This means that PAs and NPs will continue to be needed for a long time. The jobs for neonatal NPs will boost by 34%. The same could be said with Family, Pediatric, Gastroenterology, and Hospitalist NPs, which will have an 11% increase. This is way above the average growth rate of other careers.
[asd_program_button /]The best way to deal with people in the medical field is to use the patient-centered approach, which is a much ideal process than only focusing on the illness. Nurses perform these tasks, that’s why they are needed. NPs are more sought for than PAs for this reason.
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. The biggest employers of NPs are 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. This means that they can give a more accurate diagnosis of the patient’s problem if it falls in their area of specialty.
Nurses are also in demand in the field of 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. 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 are many good news when it comes to the financial aspect of the nurse practitioner careers. In 2020, the 19% salary increase is most likely provided to nurse practitioners. 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 state you live in has a say on the job standpoint and salary of each career. For more statistics and data on the job outlook of NPs, you can visit Bureau of Labor Statistics. As you can see, this is a highly competitive job with great prospects.
Nurse Practitioner Job Requirements In Reform
How to Be A Registered Nurse
The first step is to become a registered nurse. In order to be one, get your bachelor’s or an associate’s degree from an accredited school. A diploma can work as well. Although, some papers may not be useful because medical experience weighs more. You can get this experience through an associate’s degree or a bachelor’s degree. Taking and passing the standardized national exam for RNs is your next step so you can work officially. You could also try to take a different path and become a Licensed Practical Nurse first.
[asd_program_button /]Completing 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 Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) is required. 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. 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. RN-BSN offers bridge programs to help you in this case. The program has different time schedules. If you have a part-time work, the period of the study may take longer. There are also bridge courses from LPN-BSN.
Experience
As mentioned before, being experienced is key to getting into of the careers in the medical field. Earning your master’s degree right after your bachelor’s degree may be the ideal process to follow to become 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. During the training, you will learn how to work effectively as an individual and with other professionals, how to ensure the welfare of various patients and treat the infections they may have.
Master’s Degree
To become a Nurse Practitioner, one needs to earn a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree. Lots of programs only need the RN’s diploma or an associate’s degree as a requirement. A bachelor’s degree is needed to enroll in other programs. It doesn’t matter which one you go for, you will be trained for knowledge and application in real settings. While studying to earn the NP title, RNs mostly need to undergo long hours of training. You might also try to get a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree as an alternative.
[asd_program_search_bar /]Earning A Ph.D. Title
The Ph.D. title follows after the master’s degree and in this program, one can opt for the specialization that best fits him/her. This will improve your credibility as a medical professional and improve your chances to earn a bit more. 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. Others have a set of bachelor’s degree and programs they accept. 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. Licensure exams are in line with your specialization. For example, you can apply at the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board or any other institution which is a subsidiary of American Nurses Association.
In general, you will need an associate degree or a diploma to become a registered nurse. Then, you need to earn a bachelor’s degree, which will expose you to real life medical situations. Finally, you acquire a master’s degree following which you get licensed after applying for the appropriate program.
What Does A Reform Nurse Practioner Do?
Works in general
A nurse practitioner usually works under the supervision of a physician or someone of the same level. They can diagnose and treat patients like a primary healthcare provider. They can also order certain tests and medical procedures to be conducted. They interpret these results and consult with the patient. Sometimes, they are also allowed to assist a physician in surgery whether as the surgeon or an anesthetist. Some high-risk cases are also handled by them.
[asd_program_button /]Nurse practitioners take a patient centered approach to treatment. Their patient’s needs are more important to be able to treat them effectively. They want to prevent the disease rather than cure it and thus advise the patient to take the necessary steps to do so. Thus, a huge role of NPs is to consult patients on how to prevent injuries and illnesses.
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. Here are the most common duties they do.
NPs for Families
NPs on this field consult with whole families. They can deal with patients of every age and help avoid illnesses within the family. Working with other physicians is also common when taking care of families.
Working as Psychiatric NP
Psychiatric nurse practitioners work with a group of people who have mental issues. They can practice as therapists and sometimes prescribe appropriate medicine. However, phsychological testing is not a part of their job. They can choose to look at the results from the testing and then work with a professional psychologist or psychiatrist to determine a treatment plan for the patient.
NPs Practicing Pediatrics
Newborn to 18 year old patients are handled by pediatric NPs. A subspecialty is a neonatal NP. People you see inside Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) caring for newborn babies work in this field. 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
Those specializing as nurse practitioners in gerontology will be dealing with medical problems of elderlies. They educate them about disease prevention and manage any illnesses they might have. Old people are more prone to different diseases. These healthcare experts will help reduce the risks of other diseases. 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 Anesthetis (CRNA) is included in the list of highest paid specializations . 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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