Hello to everyone ! 

 I am interested in working & going back to school to augment my AD to get a BSN (the hospital I work for has a program for its RN employees with a nearby University), - - - & I am looking at possibly continuing to obtain a NP degree.  Does anyone have any info or websites on how to find out the current NP salaries,  & info or websites to let me know whether the numbers of NP job openings increasing, staying the same, or decreasing?   Thanks !

Hi Sue,

Good Luck in your endeavor to become a Nurse Practitioner.  There are a couple of things to consider. In most cases you will make more money than an RN.  However there are some cases in which you don't.  As a Family Nurse Practitioner you may make less money per hour than if you were to work as an RN in the hospital especially d/t the nursing shortage.  However the hours that you work are nicer than hospital.  Most times there are no holidays or weekends.  Hours are M-F 8-5.  However if you join a practice that has hospital call that can be different, but that will be up to you.  Remember that when you go from experienced RN to an NP you are a novice once again for about 3 years.  You have a great opportunity to change lives.  You will definitely gain more knowledge.  The website I look at is salary.com.  Also if you want to check potential jobs check out AANP.com.  From this site you can see how you can become politically active and check NP jobs around the US.  Have fun and good luck.

I'm not sure which part of the country you are living in, but you will definitely make more money as a NP than as an RN in the majority of states.  I live in South Texas and I'm making close to 100K per year.  The most I could possibly make (without differentials) is $26 per hour as a R.N. 

 I'm board certified in 3 different specialties, FNP, ANP & GNP.  The BON in Texas is very strict about NP's practicing within their scope, so don't assume that you can work in the hospital or in a specialty clinic if you're a FNP.  The Board of Nursing says that you CAN'T!  Fortunately, my ANP program included clinical time in the hospital, so I can practice there, but not in ICU (only Acute Care NP's can practice there).  I'm also allowed to work in the various specialties, including urology, cardiology, etc.  A FNP can ONLY practice in a primary care clinic. 

Specialty NP's command more pay than the generic FNP's, except in Women's Health.  If you want to practice in any specialty, ER, OR, psych, etc, then you need to become a P.A. b/c it will take you forever to get board certified in each of those specialties.  That's the only problem I've had with being a NP, otherwise I love it and I get far more respect than I ever did as a R.N.