Nurse Practitioner Is Now the Hottest Job in Healthcare

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NPs generally max out around $150k and many make 90k. That's after spending $150k for schooling beyond a bachelors.

It's a flexible career but it's not a money maker. Hard to live off those salaries (becomes a homeowner, etc) in an area like the DMV unless you're married to another income.

Most NPs are women, after all. Odds are they're married to a higher-earning man.

I'm not sure any girl can count on getting married these days with the crazy gender imbalances at schools. very few girls are even dating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nurses like becoming NPs because it pays better and they have more freedom (can prescribe meds).

I have had good and bad experiences with NPs. In theory they improve the system by handling cases that might be too simple or straightforward for a doctor. And they do generally get to spend more time with patients, making them a good option for a PCP (PCN?) where not being rushed can be helpful.

However I have had very negative experiences with NP specialists. I do not feel the training fir their specialty is sufficient and they can have unearned confidence, especially in diagnosis. I've had a gyn NP miss major symptoms, for instance.

There is a reason medical training for fir doctors is as long as it is. It's inconvenient, for them and fir patients, because it leads to doctor shortages. But I'm not convinced replacing a bunch of MD roles with NPs is going to solve things, especially with the current fairly low requirements for training and school to get specialized NP licenses.

I'm telling you, it does not pay that much better in 2026 than a hospital-based RN who works 8 hours of overtime a month (ie, works 38 hours a week instead of full-time / 36 hours a week). Maybe the differential was bigger pre 2010. Not now

I think a lot of this has little to do with money but more autonomy/lifestyle. Our daughter is a nurse in a hospital, and with crisis pay for extra shifts, makes a phenomenal amount of money on top of already strong salary. But she is young so shift work isn't too rough now. But when she has a family, the NP route is an appealing option.

Frankly this makes no sense. Being an RN is far more flexible as you can work evenings, nights, weekends, one day per week, two days per week, weekends only etc. You can have coworkers cover for you at the last minute. Tons of mothers do it for this reason.


In contrast, there are few jobs as inflexible as seeing patients in an office as an NP or MD. Your schedule comes out and patients are booked 3-6 months in advance. there is no taking last minute time off if your child has a kindergarten program or a high school sports game. There is no leaving early or doing any off shift hours.


I'm an RN turned NP married to an MD and I've raised (am raising) 3 kids.

That is great, it is working out for you. But your situation isn't everyone's.

We know NPs who work pretty flexible hours - three or four eight-hour shifts a week, or less.

Our daughter is lucky to, as a new graduate nurse in her unit, not to have to work only nights. However, nursing friends at other hospitals aren't as lucky for their first two years. There are nurses on her unit who are also Moms who prefer nights, but I don't think that would be her thing long-term.

Our daughter, who loves her job now and her patients, thinks the intensity of the unit she works in would be a lot to maintain for a career. But it has informed what direction that she wants to take, at least right now. She has been a nurse for not quite a year, so everything can change.

And her NP or other grad school, if she chooses that route, is covered by a generous Godparent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nurses like becoming NPs because it pays better and they have more freedom (can prescribe meds).

I have had good and bad experiences with NPs. In theory they improve the system by handling cases that might be too simple or straightforward for a doctor. And they do generally get to spend more time with patients, making them a good option for a PCP (PCN?) where not being rushed can be helpful.

However I have had very negative experiences with NP specialists. I do not feel the training fir their specialty is sufficient and they can have unearned confidence, especially in diagnosis. I've had a gyn NP miss major symptoms, for instance.

There is a reason medical training for fir doctors is as long as it is. It's inconvenient, for them and fir patients, because it leads to doctor shortages. But I'm not convinced replacing a bunch of MD roles with NPs is going to solve things, especially with the current fairly low requirements for training and school to get specialized NP licenses.

I'm telling you, it does not pay that much better in 2026 than a hospital-based RN who works 8 hours of overtime a month (ie, works 38 hours a week instead of full-time / 36 hours a week). Maybe the differential was bigger pre 2010. Not now

I think a lot of this has little to do with money but more autonomy/lifestyle. Our daughter is a nurse in a hospital, and with crisis pay for extra shifts, makes a phenomenal amount of money on top of already strong salary. But she is young so shift work isn't too rough now. But when she has a family, the NP route is an appealing option.

Frankly this makes no sense. Being an RN is far more flexible as you can work evenings, nights, weekends, one day per week, two days per week, weekends only etc. You can have coworkers cover for you at the last minute. Tons of mothers do it for this reason.


In contrast, there are few jobs as inflexible as seeing patients in an office as an NP or MD. Your schedule comes out and patients are booked 3-6 months in advance. there is no taking last minute time off if your child has a kindergarten program or a high school sports game. There is no leaving early or doing any off shift hours.


I'm an RN turned NP married to an MD and I've raised (am raising) 3 kids.

That is great, it is working out for you. But your situation isn't everyone's.

We know NPs who work pretty flexible hours - three or four eight-hour shifts a week, or less.

Our daughter is lucky to, as a new graduate nurse in her unit, not to have to work only nights. However, nursing friends at other hospitals aren't as lucky for their first two years. There are nurses on her unit who are also Moms who prefer nights, but I don't think that would be her thing long-term.

Our daughter, who loves her job now and her patients, thinks the intensity of the unit she works in would be a lot to maintain for a career. But it has informed what direction that she wants to take, at least right now. She has been a nurse for not quite a year, so everything can change.

And her NP or other grad school, if she chooses that route, is covered by a generous Godparent.

you don't get it. When you are working those 4 shifts a week as an NP you are locked in, 6 months in advance because patients are scheduled. There is no flexibility. I'm an NP and have a half dozen friends who are NPs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nurses like becoming NPs because it pays better and they have more freedom (can prescribe meds).

I have had good and bad experiences with NPs. In theory they improve the system by handling cases that might be too simple or straightforward for a doctor. And they do generally get to spend more time with patients, making them a good option for a PCP (PCN?) where not being rushed can be helpful.

However I have had very negative experiences with NP specialists. I do not feel the training fir their specialty is sufficient and they can have unearned confidence, especially in diagnosis. I've had a gyn NP miss major symptoms, for instance.

There is a reason medical training for fir doctors is as long as it is. It's inconvenient, for them and fir patients, because it leads to doctor shortages. But I'm not convinced replacing a bunch of MD roles with NPs is going to solve things, especially with the current fairly low requirements for training and school to get specialized NP licenses.

I'm telling you, it does not pay that much better in 2026 than a hospital-based RN who works 8 hours of overtime a month (ie, works 38 hours a week instead of full-time / 36 hours a week). Maybe the differential was bigger pre 2010. Not now

I think a lot of this has little to do with money but more autonomy/lifestyle. Our daughter is a nurse in a hospital, and with crisis pay for extra shifts, makes a phenomenal amount of money on top of already strong salary. But she is young so shift work isn't too rough now. But when she has a family, the NP route is an appealing option.

Frankly this makes no sense. Being an RN is far more flexible as you can work evenings, nights, weekends, one day per week, two days per week, weekends only etc. You can have coworkers cover for you at the last minute. Tons of mothers do it for this reason.


In contrast, there are few jobs as inflexible as seeing patients in an office as an NP or MD. Your schedule comes out and patients are booked 3-6 months in advance. there is no taking last minute time off if your child has a kindergarten program or a high school sports game. There is no leaving early or doing any off shift hours.


I'm an RN turned NP married to an MD and I've raised (am raising) 3 kids.

That is great, it is working out for you. But your situation isn't everyone's.

We know NPs who work pretty flexible hours - three or four eight-hour shifts a week, or less.

Our daughter is lucky to, as a new graduate nurse in her unit, not to have to work only nights. However, nursing friends at other hospitals aren't as lucky for their first two years. There are nurses on her unit who are also Moms who prefer nights, but I don't think that would be her thing long-term.

Our daughter, who loves her job now and her patients, thinks the intensity of the unit she works in would be a lot to maintain for a career. But it has informed what direction that she wants to take, at least right now. She has been a nurse for not quite a year, so everything can change.

And her NP or other grad school, if she chooses that route, is covered by a generous Godparent.

Probably shouldn't read DCUM without glasses. Missed that you are an NP. I am sorry that you aren't happy with the switch. I hope you find a more flexible situation.

We have three kids, my youngest is a high school senior, and I picked a career long before I had kids (not healthcare) that allowed me to work remotely at least part of the time and gave me flexibility to be able to go to the kindergarten things, volunteer, be with our kids when they were sick, etc.

I am not going to lie, it was sometimes still a serious juggling act but I also so appreciate the flexibility. And I think our kids did too.

[Anonymous]

Seeing patients as a provider is an incredibly rigid career and hard as a mother. there is no "oh sure , I can come in and read to my kindergartener's class next Friday." no, those patients were scheduled 6 months ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PAs can't write prescriptions and NPs can.

I see a PA and she writes me prescriptions. Maybe that have to be approved by the MD that she works with, but she's the only person I see, and I get the medicines....

PAs can write prescriptions in all 50 states. The previous poster didn't know what they were talking about. Some PAs work in offices, some are surgical, some do urgent care. They do rotations in verious specialities in PA school and then go on to further training depending upon where they end up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Article on WSJ https://www.wsj.com/health/healthcare/nurse-practitioner-is-now-the-hottest-job-in-healthcare-a98e0bc8

NP seems like a great career, not sure why it's not as talked about as pre-med especially esp given many weed out of the latter by end of freshman year.

They do not make the same salary at all.
They are never in charge, they do not have control over their schedules or vacations like docs do.
They do not have the training to manage the most complex patients nor identify the rarer cases in primary care.
The insurances used to reimburse similarly for NP versus MD visits as NP were "overseen" by MD. That has changed in the past 5 years and is almost gone. The lower reimbursements make physician groups and hospitals less likely to hire as many NPs because they are not the financial boost to the bottom line as they once were.
The online training is terrible and a huge red flag. No one prefers to hire them now that we all have seen the poor quality of the education. These are predatory programs and should not exist.
The recent surge in medical school financial aid is rapidly making the cost for 4 years of medical school the same or less than 2 years of the reputable(non online) NP and PA schools. Med school financial aid, merit and need, has exploded this cycle and will continue to grow, after the loan limits happened. It is happening at all MD programs not merely the very top or the weaker ones. They all want to get the best students they can get for their relative level of med school and are using merit $ to get the class they want. The top 25 or so have need based aid for all who are admitted.
Even with loans for 4 full years of medical school, the low-end doctor salary of 250k for primary care will pay off 4 years of loans much faster than an NP salary for 2 yrs of school loans. For specialist MDs, they make 400-600k and beyond, while the NP in those areas if they can even get a job in that area make 110-120k, only 10k more than primary care NP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seeing patients as a provider is an incredibly rigid career and hard as a mother. there is no "oh sure , I can come in and read to my kindergartener's class next Friday." no, those patients were scheduled 6 months ago.

MDs are in control of our schedule and yes we can move patients. It happens all the time. It happens to me when I see my own doctors. No big deal, we all know we have families.
NPs are not allowed to move patients unless they go through the MD and we do try to accommodate when possible.
The majority of docs are able to be at all the parent events they want to attend, though it helps to be highly organized and aware of how the school schedule works, ask at the beginning of the school year and block accordingly. One of my kids had doctors (and a dentist) as the room mom many years. I did it for my other child for two years. My colleague who is a single dad doc did it one year. Being a mom or a dad and a doctor is no less compatible with family life than a lawyer or engineer or professor. Gone are the days when one is the only doc in a group or one of two and on call all the time and running to the hospital. Those who work in hospitals swap call or shifts with colleagues all the time for kid stuff or other reasons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Article on WSJ https://www.wsj.com/health/healthcare/nurse-practitioner-is-now-the-hottest-job-in-healthcare-a98e0bc8

NP seems like a great career, not sure why it's not as talked about as pre-med especially esp given many weed out of the latter by end of freshman year.

They do not make the same salary at all.
They are never in charge, they do not have control over their schedules or vacations like docs do.
They do not have the training to manage the most complex patients nor identify the rarer cases in primary care.
The insurances used to reimburse similarly for NP versus MD visits as NP were "overseen" by MD. That has changed in the past 5 years and is almost gone. The lower reimbursements make physician groups and hospitals less likely to hire as many NPs because they are not the financial boost to the bottom line as they once were.
The online training is terrible and a huge red flag. No one prefers to hire them now that we all have seen the poor quality of the education. These are predatory programs and should not exist.
The recent surge in medical school financial aid is rapidly making the cost for 4 years of medical school the same or less than 2 years of the reputable(non online) NP and PA schools. Med school financial aid, merit and need, has exploded this cycle and will continue to grow, after the loan limits happened. It is happening at all MD programs not merely the very top or the weaker ones. They all want to get the best students they can get for their relative level of med school and are using merit $ to get the class they want. The top 25 or so have need based aid for all who are admitted.
Even with loans for 4 full years of medical school, the low-end doctor salary of 250k for primary care will pay off 4 years of loans much faster than an NP salary for 2 yrs of school loans. For specialist MDs, they make 400-600k and beyond, while the NP in those areas if they can even get a job in that area make 110-120k, only 10k more than primary care NP.

This post is spot on!
I'm an NP married to an MD. I trained 20 Yrs ago and back then you could go to graduate school and become an NP for around 30-50k. Almost everyone who did so were experienced RNs and most forms required 2-3 years of acute care (i.e. hospital based) nursing experience for admission.

Now the NP graduate programs are like 150-200k!!! You'll never recoup
that an NP because you're going to be making 120K as an NP vs the 100k you were making as an RN. it makes zero financial sense. Also, the idea of going straight to graduate school AND many of the programs being online (!!!) is complete lunacy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seeing patients as a provider is an incredibly rigid career and hard as a mother. there is no "oh sure , I can come in and read to my kindergartener's class next Friday." no, those patients were scheduled 6 months ago.

MDs are in control of our schedule and yes we can move patients. It happens all the time. It happens to me when I see my own doctors. No big deal, we all know we have families.
NPs are not allowed to move patients unless they go through the MD and we do try to accommodate when possible.
The majority of docs are able to be at all the parent events they want to attend, though it helps to be highly organized and aware of how the school schedule works, ask at the beginning of the school year and block accordingly. One of my kids had doctors (and a dentist) as the room mom many years. I did it for my other child for two years. My colleague who is a single dad doc did it one year. Being a mom or a dad and a doctor is no less compatible with family life than a lawyer or engineer or professor. Gone are the days when one is the only doc in a group or one of two and on call all the time and running to the hospital. Those who work in hospitals swap call or shifts with colleagues all the time for kid stuff or other reasons.

Very dependent on specialty, employer, and level. It's highly variable. You can't compare the experience of an experienced pediatrician working in a family practice to a urologist fresh out of their fellowship working in a hospital. Totally different schedules and demands. It's like comparing a District Attorney with a trusts and estates lawyer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Article on WSJ https://www.wsj.com/health/healthcare/nurse-practitioner-is-now-the-hottest-job-in-healthcare-a98e0bc8

NP seems like a great career, not sure why it's not as talked about as pre-med especially esp given many weed out of the latter by end of freshman year.

They do not make the same salary at all.
They are never in charge, they do not have control over their schedules or vacations like docs do.
They do not have the training to manage the most complex patients nor identify the rarer cases in primary care.
The insurances used to reimburse similarly for NP versus MD visits as NP were "overseen" by MD. That has changed in the past 5 years and is almost gone. The lower reimbursements make physician groups and hospitals less likely to hire as many NPs because they are not the financial boost to the bottom line as they once were.
The online training is terrible and a huge red flag. No one prefers to hire them now that we all have seen the poor quality of the education. These are predatory programs and should not exist.
The recent surge in medical school financial aid is rapidly making the cost for 4 years of medical school the same or less than 2 years of the reputable(non online) NP and PA schools. Med school financial aid, merit and need, has exploded this cycle and will continue to grow, after the loan limits happened. It is happening at all MD programs not merely the very top or the weaker ones. They all want to get the best students they can get for their relative level of med school and are using merit $ to get the class they want. The top 25 or so have need based aid for all who are admitted.
Even with loans for 4 full years of medical school, the low-end doctor salary of 250k for primary care will pay off 4 years of loans much faster than an NP salary for 2 yrs of school loans. For specialist MDs, they make 400-600k and beyond, while the NP in those areas if they can even get a job in that area make 110-120k, only 10k more than primary care NP.

This post is spot on!
I'm an NP married to an MD. I trained 20 Yrs ago and back then you could go to graduate school and become an NP for around 30-50k. Almost everyone who did so were experienced RNs and most forms required 2-3 years of acute care (i.e. hospital based) nursing experience for admission.

Now the NP graduate programs are like 150-200k!!! You'll never recoup
that an NP because you're going to be making 120K as an NP vs the 100k you were making as an RN. it makes zero financial sense. Also, the idea of going straight to graduate school AND many of the programs being online (!!!) is complete lunacy.

That is so interesting, I'd love a breakdown on why that happened. It sounds predatory, frankly.

It reminds me of what happen to the librarian career over the last 30 years or so. You used to be able to get library jobs with a BA, then the masters in library science emerged and that gradually became the standard until it became impossible to get a librarian job in almost any library setting without an MLS. Then 20 years ago I started seeing more dual degree librarians, JD/MLS, MBA/MLS, etc. because of requirements for librarians with specialized research knowledge. But the math doesn't make sense. A JD/MLS has five years of graduate school totaling over 200k, and even with recent salary increases is going to top out at maybe 180k (and is much more likely to wind up in a role making 100-150k with no or very limited opportunities for advancement). Why would anyone ever pursue that? Yet I'll see it requested as a qualification for roles in law libraries and know maybe a dozen people with this background. All women.

I think credentialism for women is often a trap. They'll create a masters or certificate program for a female-dominated industry with the promise of higher salaries or a leg up in hiring, and women are particularly susceptible to this spin because they are more likely to doubt their qualification for a role or to not apply for roles unless they meet 100% of hiring requirements. But then it just becomes a cash cow for universities who then crank out more and more people with the same credential, thus devaluing it. The credential then becomes essential to proceed in the profession but offers no additional financial value.

Like I said, predatory.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PAs can't write prescriptions and NPs can.

A PA wrote me a prescription this morning.

Same...a few weeks ago.

The urgent care near me only has PAs. No MDs, no NPs. They prescribe meds, diagnose, etc.

Tho to be honest I don't trust them at all and I only go there when I know exactly what my issue is and what I need (usually because I've had it before). I would not trust them with a novel issue.

Nor should you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, because many places use them interchangeably with physicians and pay them a lot less. This is a knock on our horrendous healthcare system, not NPs.

This is true. And the office bills more as if you’re seeing the MD, because in most states the MD must theoretically sign off on the plan of care determined by the NP.

I decided not to go the NP route when I saw how overworked they are in most clinical settings. Whether that’s a CVS or a MedSTAR Hospital.

I make only $15,000 less a year as a seasoned RN because their pay band is getting compressed as the NP cohort grows exponentially. Not worth the increased stress and liability.

What liability? The whole reason MD's supervise is because they're liable.

?? NPs don't need supervision.

This is the funniest thing I’ve ever seen on DCUM…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PAs can't write prescriptions and NPs can.

CRNAs, too, that's another excellent nursing career path.

I am a CRNA! Best job in the world. I work 3 8hr shifts a week and make 300,000 (there’s a critical anesthesia shortage). Been doing it for 15 years. Long road to get here but highly recommend.

Interesting. My CRNA SIL, who has been doing it longer than you have, makes 1/3 of that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PAs can't write prescriptions and NPs can.

CRNAs, too, that's another excellent nursing career path.

Um

No it is not.

Difficult and burn out

Not if you marry a surgeon and work PRN a couple times per month (or never again). Being a CRNA or NP allows you a lot of part time flexibility if you don’t need benefits. You can work just enough to stay current