South San Francisco California Nurse Practitioner Salary And Job Requirements

We should determine the actual job before making a career option. The assumption that related jobs have the same description is easily made especially in the field of medicine. A Nurse Practitioner is also called 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.

Nurse Practitioner Career Summary

**Image Source – BLS.gov

Table Of Contents:

How Much Salary Does A Nurse Practitioner Get In South San Francisco?

A nurse practitioner receives an average of $90,000. Compared to a registered nurse this is quite high since an RN gets something around $65,000. The reason behind this is that NPs train longer so they could be medical practitioners.

[asd_program_button /]

Location

NPs receive higher salaries if they are badly needed in the area. For example, Hawaii is the highest paying state with an average salary of $115,000 a year. Compared to the average earnings of NPs in the rest of the country, they earn 30% more. NPs in Delaware receive $67,000.

Nurse practitioner salary information

**Image Source – BLS.gov

Years of Experience

Experience is not too much of a factor for salary increase in the field. A 10-15% increase in the salary may be given to those who have been working in the field for more than 20 years.

Ability

An increase of salary may be given if you have more expertise in some fields. Acute care and Emergency room skills will be something that can increase your average salary to up to $99,000. 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

Getting a specialization or a promotion may be the only way to earn higher. To do this there are several options. You can try to become a Nurse Practitioner Anesthetist who can earn about $150,000 a year. Another is by becoming an Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner, who earns slightly more than the regular NP. Other options include being a Family, Pediatric NP, Psychiatrist NP, or an Adult NP. You could also increase your salary with other specializations after doing the procedures. In order to achieve these things, you will need to undergo a number of training sessions and acquire additional certification.

Benefits

An NP is entitled to numerous benefits. Some of the few are retirement plans, paid vacations, 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.

Because of this shortage for main medical practitioners, many aspiring health care professionals would most likely work in the field. Therefore, an increase in Nurse Practitioners salary is more likely to happen in time. There are also more time for NPs to choose the type of cases they wish to do.

Average nurse practitioner wage in

**Image Source – BLS.gov

Nurse Practitioner South San Francisco Employment Outlook

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. 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. 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 /]

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. Most NPs get hired to work for 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. The diagnosis of the illness is clearer and faster when the disease is specialized by the practitioner.

Employment outlook for nurse practitioners in

**Image Source – BLS.gov

The educational field is also in need of nurses. Medical schools have a shortage of teachers for nurses and medical professionals. Getting a Ph.D. is a requisite for a nurse practitioners to be able to teach. Some people resort to teaching after a long period of service. So this is the perfect option for NPs who feel that they are now not fit enough to handle the stresses that come with the medical field.

Financially speaking, the future for nurse practitioners is quite bright too. 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 of a specialized nurse practitioner depends on the specialization. The earnings of a nurse anesthetist could range from $150,000 to $235,000.

Each career’s status and salary rate may differ in each state. For more statistics and data on the job outlook of NPs, you can visit Bureau of Labor Statistics. Obviously, it is a career that is challenging and highly accredited, as well.

Nurse practitioner job outlook

**Image Source – BLS.gov

How To Become A Nurse Practioner In South San Francisco

Becoming a Registered Nurse

First, one needs to become a registered nurse. Earning a bachelor’s or an associate’s degree is needed to become one. Another way is earning a diploma. However, the skill acquired during internship or work experience are more important. You can get this experience through an associate’s degree or a bachelor’s degree. After this, you must take a standardized national test and then get the license to practice as an RN. Becoming a Licensed Practical Nurse first is another way to achieve your goals.

[asd_program_button /]

Completing Bachelor’s Degree

The next step is to earn a Bachelor’s degree. This is ideal for applicants for a diploma or an associate’s degree. A Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) is required. Besides the comprehensive learning of medical procedures, there is also application during internship clinic rounds. This is extremely important as experience plays a key role in any medical field. You may be a bachelor’s degree holder already and going for a Registered Nurse career at the same time. RN-BSN offers bridge programs to help you in this case. The time duration of these programs varies. The duration is longer when you are also studying while working. Bridge courses by LPN-BSN are also available.

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. Some nurses who have been working for a long time feel that this process is somehow lacking when it comes to real life applications. Thus, they recommend you go through some training before applying for a graduate degree since some of the NP training programs also require you to have some prior experience. The training you will receive may enable you to dealwith patients effectively, treat ailments, work with other professionals, and do the tasks efficiently.

Master’s Degree

A requisite of becoming a Nurse Practitioner is one’s Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree. Lots of programs only need the RN’s diploma or an associate’s degree as a requirement. 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. While studying to earn the NP title, RNs mostly need to undergo long hours of training. Another option will be to take the course of becoming a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP).

[asd_program_search_bar /]

Doctorate (optional)

After earning a master’s degree, one has freedom to choose a specialization for his/her Ph.D. This will improve your credibility as a medical professional and improve your chances to earn a bit more. You can choose to specialize in fields like family care, gerontology or health systems.

State License and Certification

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. Passing the state licensure exam, RN license, and a master’s degree are the requirements in becoming a nurse practitioner. Licensure exams are in line with your specialization. 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 is the Work of A South San Francisco Nurse Practitioner?

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. They can handle patient consultations and also interpret test results. During surgery, they could assist as a surgeon or as an anesthetist. Some high-risk cases are also handled by them.

[asd_program_button /]

Nurse practitioners take a patient centered approach to treatment. This means that they focus more on the patients’ needs and wants while treating them. 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 are specific duties by NPs on the field, which is why they need this. Let us look at some of the popular choices and their job duties.

NPs Specializing in Families

These NPs take care of the whole family. Through the assistance of NPs, the whole family can avoid illnesses together, and any disease no matter how how old the patient is could be treated. Families can receive high quality health care because the practitioner works with a physician.

Working as Psychiatric NP

Psychiatric nurse practitioners work with a group of people who have mental issues. These professionals can prescribe medicine and do therapeutic consultations with them. However, phsychological testing is not a part of their job. 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

Pediatric NPs can handle newborn babies up to 18-year old patients. Under this specialty is the neonatal NP. People you see inside Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) caring for newborn babies work in this field. Pediatric NPs also help kids transition through puberty as this may be a difficult time for some. They are also the ones who give immunizations and vaccines to children.

Working as a Gerontology NP

Those specializing as nurse practitioners in gerontology will be dealing with medical problems of elderlies. Illnesses are treated and prevented with the help of these practitioners by giving their patients some advice. Old people are more prone to different diseases. These healthcare experts will help reduce the risks of other diseases. In an effort to prolong the life of their patients, they provide them fitness plans.

The mentioned are only few of the specializations a nurse practitioner have. Some NPs may specialize in other fields that interest them. Different specializations may have variations in salaries. 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.

[asd_program_prefilter_box /]